Friends Forever, Maybe Not  After Hogwarts
by Krstna
Summary: School is over and its time to face the world. For a group of friends the reality of what they are facing will either bring them closer together or rip them apart. It's time to find out who will really be Friends Forver
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The music started playing as everyone stood up. With a gulp she reached to her left and wrapped her arm into the grip of the man next to her. Then he was leading her out into the crowd. The sound of the organ bounced overhead but she wasn't taking that in. The smiles of the people around her were lost to her vision.

As she moved down the centre of the church the only thing Alice could see was the man stood at the other end watching her. His grey eyes were filled with love as a coy smile played on his lips. The gaze he gave her made her feel beautiful and all she wanted was to reach him. It took what felt like a lifetime before she stopped and turned to him.

The man holding her arm gave it a squeeze and she turned and smiled at him. Taliesin Ddraig simply gave her a nod as he placed her hand into Frank's before he stepped backwards. Around him stepped her three bridesmaids Branwen, Lily and Amanda. Amanda gracefully accepted Alice's bouquet as she followed the other two with the long tails of their dresses sweeping along the cream carpet.

"My friends we are gathered here today to witness the joining of Frank and Alice in holy matrimony."

Alice's stomach wobbled as she looked up at Frank. He was watching her carefully and ever so gently squeezed her hand. She could see that it was shaking and wished that she had more control over herself. But for some reason she couldn't. As the minister outlined the significance of marriage Alice could only gaze at Frank.

"Does anyone here know of any lawful reason why this pair should not wed? Please speak now or forever hold your peace."

Silence answered the statement and relief sailed through her. Not that she had been expecting anybody to object to the wedding. She was of age and so was Frank and neither one was already married. Frank's smile showed that he was just as relieved as she was.

"Frank if you can please repeat after me."

Alice listened carefully as Frank spoke his vows to her.

_"__I Frank take thee Alice to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse; for richer for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish; till death us do part."_

_Her stomach fluttered as she studied him. His eyes were filled with love as he spoke the words to her and she could see that he meant every word that he was saying. Then it was her turn. Her voice was wobbly and she was almost embarrassed to hear the threatening sound of tears in it._

_"__I Alice take thee Frank to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse; for richer for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish; till death us do part."_

_Her whole body was shaking as she looked at him. He was so handsome in his black suit with the _medium champagne waist coat that matched the satin band around her dress and her bridesmaid dresses exactly. The single red rose that sat in his lapel splashing colour. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen and looking at him now she was even more in love with him.

The grin that spread up Frank's face as she finished the vows made her want to lean up and kiss him. It took all her will power to remain where she was stood. Then a little movement to Frank's right caught her attention and for the first time she noticed Joe. He was dressed identical to Frank and he gave her a cheeky grin as he passed two rings up to the minister. The man blessed them before turning to Frank. She watched as he picked up the ring and took her left hand trying to hold it steady.

_"__With this ring I thee wed; with my body I thee honour; and all my worldly goods with thee I share. In the name of the father, the son and of the Holy Ghost."_

_As he slipped the ring onto her finger she giggled and she saw him shake his head slightly. She looked down at the ring and smiled. It was beautiful just like the engagement ring that still sat on her finger. This one __was all gold and crossed over on the front. In the section that crossed over sat diamonds. Frank really had spoilt her when it came to rings._

Then it was her turn. She reached over and took a solid gold band ring in her hand. It felt massive in her fingers compared to the dainty little one that she was now wearing. Taking Frank's hand in hers she gave him a smile as she repeated the words whilst slipping the ring onto his finger.

_"__With this ring I thee wed; with my body I thee honour; and all my worldly goods with thee I share. In the name of the father, the son and of the Holy Ghost."_

She heard the minister say something but she wasn't really listening. Frank's lips were forming syllables that only she could see. He was mouthing 'I love you' to her. She grinned as she copied him saying simply 'I love you too'.

"You may now kiss the bride."

She didn't need to be told twice and it was clear Frank didn't either. He cupped her face gently in his hands as he leaned down. His lips gently brushed hers sending a shiver of excitement through her. Then they rested against hers. She wanted to throw her arms around him to deepen the kiss but she knew too many people were watching for that. As they pulled apart she heard the minister's words.

_"__Those whom God has joined together, let no man put asunder."_

Frank was holding her hand as he led her towards the register which had been set to one side. She couldn't help but grin as she watched him lean over and sign his name, Frank Longbottom. She wrote write next to it Alice Scott, knowing that the next time she signed her name it would be as Alice Longbottom. Joe took the pen off her and signed his name as a witness followed by Amanda and Ddraig. Then Alice was being led out of the church for photos.

* * *

><p>Hi everyone<p>

So here we are on the final part of the story. Seems like just yesterday that I was posting year 1 and now they've finished and are out in the real world. Don't wory though because this one is going to be long. and its going to cover a couple of years so we got a lot of chapters to come. This one is quite small but its the start of the changes that we are going to see now that they are grown up. So I hope you enjoy and its goodbye to Alice Scott and hello to Alice Longbottom the first change of many. Hopefully you'll have another post soon. And I just want to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read from the first part because I know that there is a lot of thingsto read.

Kris xxx


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sirius picked up his glass and took a sip as around him laughter erupted. He had to admit that the wedding had been beautiful. He had watched Alice walk down the aisle and had barely recognised her. She was no longer a little girl but a woman. He watched her now at the top table as she stole some dessert from Frank's plate.

"I can't wait to hear Joe's speech."

The men on the table around Sirius nodded in agreement to that. Sirius couldn't help but smile as he looked at those sat with him. With the girls all on the top table theirs was made up of James, Remus, Peter, Kyle, Anton and himself. Their table was in fact the only non-mixed table of the lot. It looked almost as that had been done purposely to stop Anton flirting. In the week Sirius had been out of Hogwarts Anton had been with a different girl every night.

Taking another sip of the wine that had been provided Sirius let his eyes wander the top table until they came to rest on Amanda. It was so strange seeing her sat up there knowing that if their families had had their way he would have been up there too. She looked gorgeous in her dress (which he had been informed time and again was Champaign in colour). He loved the way it clung to her and the fact that although it was floor length in the back the front showed off her legs. He had heard a lot of comments from some of the guests about the bridesmaids and he loved the fact that he would get to rub it in later that she was with him.

A clink of glasses drew his attention and he cheered as Frank climbed to his feet. On the table around him came wolf whistles and the stamping of feet. They were most certainly the rowdy table at the reception. Frank gave them a wave and Anton raised a hand to his head pretending to faint into his brother.

"Thank you. Many people say that your wedding day is the happiest day of your life. So, if that's the case, I'd like to ask the husbands amongst you, does that mean its all downhill from here?"

Laughter erupted from among the guests gathered and Sirius watched as Alice turned a slightly funny shade as she shook her head and looked at Augusta who was sat next to her. The older woman had a look of disgust on her face at Frank's attempt of humour.

"Actually I can't imagine a day that I get to spend with Alice as being unhappy. I remember the first time I saw my gorgeous bride, covered in mud and annoyed at James and Peter, well some things never change."

Sirius barked a laugh as Peter and James exchanged looks. Alice had her hands covering her face but next to Frank Joe was laughing so hard that Amanda was patting his back.

"I've been a very lucky man because I fell for Alice very early on. It took me two years to pluck up the courage to ask her on a date only for her to beat me to it. We've had our ups and downs, we've seen good and bad times but we've faced everything together and I'm so thankful to have someone like you in my life."

"I remember the day I decided I was going to ask you to marry me. I was so scared that it took me five months to actually do it. And every day of those five months I had to put up with Joe asking 'have you done it'. I swear there is nothing more annoying."

Frank gave his friend a little push at this and Sirius could see the smile spreading up Frank's face. It was clear how happy the man was in that moment. Sirius had seen him happy before, they had won Quidditch Cups together, but this was greater than any other moment.

"Anyway here we are on the happiest day of our lives and I'm sure that there are still many more to come. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all so much for joining us on this special day and making it that much better for us."

"Finally there are a few people that I would like to thank. Firstly I would like to thank both Sirius and Amanda for giving up their church and reception so that Alice and I could be the first in the group to get married…"

Sirius shook his head slowly. It was nothing giving them those things after all they would only have been wasted otherwise.

"We would both like to thank my mother and Aunt Enid for helping with the organisational side. Taliesin for being so kind as to step in and give Alice away today words can't express how glad we are that you did that. Our three wonderful bridesmaids Amanda, Lily and Branwen for not only looking beautiful today but for all the support you've given Alice in the run up. I'd like to thank my best man Joe for not getting me so drunk last night that I was late today and hopefully for not embarrassing me with his speech."

"Finally I would like to thank Alice for turning up today and not leaving me look like a complete plonker at the church. So please raise your glasses with me to toast the most beautiful woman I have ever met, my wife."

Sirius lifted his glass along with everyone else and repeated Alice's name. Then he watched Frank lean over and give her a gentle kiss as he took his seat. Then Joe was on his feet a wicked grin on his face.

"After an introduction like that, I can hardly wait to hear myself speak."

"It's kind of a bugger because all of my stuff has been plagiarised. It reminds me of when Frank and I were at school… He was always copying me. But it's kind of fortunate really, because a wise man once told me that a best mans speech should be about as long as the groom makes love. So I think I've already gone over time…"

"Thank you all very much…"

Joe sat down to howls of laughter. Anton was slapping the table and Sirius snorted so hard some of the wine came from his nose. Around him Peter was red and Remus was almost crying with laughter. James was whooping while Kyle seemed like the only adult as he shook his head slowly.

Joe leaned in towards Amanda and whispered something and she mimicked looking at her watch and gave a little nod. Then Joe stood back up and gave a shrug.

"However, it seems I've been given about 5 minutes or so to talk, so I'll engage you all in a bit of pillow talk before you fall asleep. For those of you that don't know me my name is Joe and I'll be your best man for this evening."

"Allow me to begin by adding a few words of appreciation for the bridesmaids Amanda, Branwen and all indeed look fantastic and are sure to be the object of much unwelcome attention this evening. I'd like to apologise in advance. And of course this leaves me to say that Alice looks absolutely incredible. And Frank, You're looking pretty handsome too… even though he's plainly copied my outfit tonight."

Muffled laughter broke the air and Sirius gave a little nod. He knew that Joe was worried about this speech. The boy had been working on it for a month and had been asking everyone for stories to include in it. So far he was doing really well and it was undoubtedly their type of humour.

"As I mentioned, it's a great honour to have the role of being the best man. But with this role comes the job of writing this bloody speech. And I wanted to make it as easy as possible, so where do you begin for ideas? And the obvious place seemed to be ask around. So I went around all the men I could think of and asked about speeches and I have to say they gave me some really good ideas. In particular I'd like to give a shout out to Moody who gave me a great pre‐prepared speech, but sadly, it wasn't about a couple called Frank and Alice."

There were claps at this and Sirius gave a little nod and a smile. He liked that. He thought that maybe he should remember that line for when James and Lily got married. That could be a good one.

"As part of my research I discovered that according to tradition, I'm supposed to sing the grooms praises, and tell you about his many good points. Well, for those of you that know me, you know that I can't sing, and I'm not going to lie."

"So now I've started talking about the man himself I might as well carry on. My first encounters with Frank were in Hogwarts. We were both sorted into Gryffindor together and so started a very rocky couple of years. You see Frank and I became very competitive with everything, homework, Quidditch and girls. And as I recall it annoyed Frank because I naturally kept winning."

"So we spent two years competing against each other. It wasn't until third year that we became good mates."

"Third year onwards were great years, discovering beer, sports, and developing our tastes for girls. Unfortunately, that's all I can tell you about those years, as anything I tell you about Frank also incriminates me."

"But Frank has a tremendous wealth of talent and natural abilities. He was seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and later on became the captain who lost the Quidditch Cup for the first time in seven years. He is rather clear headed and quick to react and has the ability to surround himself with the prettiest girls around, I mean just look at this table."

Whistles sounded around the room and Sirius laughed as Alice buried her head into Frank's side. The groom was shaking his head giving Joe a look that clearly said that there would come a day when he would get his own back. It made Sirius think that if you wanted to get away with a speech like this you should already be married yourself because then the groom wouldn't get a chance to make one to embarrass you.

"But his talents don't stop there… I for one am incredibly jealous about Frank's ability to pull off antlers. I mean when Ginny missed Remus with that spell and hit Frank everybody was awe struck by how wonderful he could look dressed up as half a moose. In fact, I have it on good authority that it was Frank's hidden ability that might have finally won over Alice's heart."

Sirius shared a look with James and started laughing. He remembered that. Frank had walked through the corridors with the antlers growing bigger and bigger. It had taken the school healer three hours to get rid of them. Sirius thought it was one of the funniest things he had ever seen in his life.

"But seriously I've never seen Frank so happy than since he's been with Alice. Certainly when they're together, and even when they're apart, it is obvious that they are truly in love with each other."

"Anyway, I'm not going to keep you for too much longer, as I know we're all here for the unforgettable spectacle that is Frank dancing."

"But I do have a couple of kind words and praise that have come from some people that are here sharing in your special day. So I wrote a few of them down. Frank here are a few of the words that have been used to describe you…"

"'A great friend' that was my one. Thoughtful, caring, trusting and charismatic… all very kind words… brilliant legs for wearing skirts, an unusual singing voice. In fact, I barely found a person that had something bad to say… Although I did find some…"

"When I heard 'Belligerent, lazy, stubborn and obstinate' I thought, hang on, that's a bit rough. Maybe not entirely untrue but a bit unnecessary for my speech… But if his parents don't know him, then who does…"

"Joking aside… I'm really, really honoured to be here today as Frank's best man. I regard both Frank and Alice as the type of friends that will always be there for you whenever it's needed. And I for one regard their friendship very, very highly as I'm sure you all value their friendship too."

"A friend's love says if you ever need something I'll be there. True love says you'll never need anything I'll be there. And that's what makes Frank and Alice such a great couple. They're truly in love and always there for each other."

"Frank you're my oldest and dearest best friend and it's been an honour to be your best man today and I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for affording me the privilege. You're incredibly lucky, Alice is a beautiful girl, with a heart of gold and deserves to have a good husband. Thank god you married her before she found one."

Laughter roared through the room again at this. Sirius watched as Frank kissed the top of Alice's head as she gazed up at him. They really were in love.

"My final duty has to be my favourite; I'd like to pose a toast to the newlyweds, so could you join me by being up standing. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me immense pleasure to invite you to raise your glasses and toast to the newlyweds Mr & Mrs Longbottom. May your life be filled with many happy memories."

The sound of chairs scrapping echoed through the restaurant as everyone climbed to their feet. Sirius held his glass high and along with everyone else called out to the Longbottom's happiness.

As Joe sat down clapping echoed throughout the room. His speech had been twice as long as Frank's. But whilst Frank had simply spoken of his love for Alice and thanked people Joe had gone all out. Sirius' sides were aching from all the laughing he had done. Seriously he would hate to be the person that would have to follow that speech.

From the top table only one person remained standing and Sirius felt his stomach drop. Amanda had one hand on Joe's shoulder as she held her glass in the other one.

"I'm Amanda and Alice was kind enough to make me her maid of honour. I think it had something to do with being the only one willing to try on all the random dresses she thought us bridesmaids would look good in."

"I would like to start by saying thanks to Joe for his enlightening speech there. I think I speak for a couple of us who have learned something new about the groom there. I don't quite know how I'm going to follow what the best man said, but I'll give it a try. I'd like to start by saying thanks for the compliments but all the bridesmaids are spoken for, sorry!"

"But Joe and I do agree on two things: firstly, Alice, she does look fantastic, and the dress is amazing. I just feel sorry for whomever it is that's picking up the bill for it. Only joking _Frank_ it wasn't too expensive, but the dress and your lovely wife combined look a million galleon. And secondly, I think we all agree that the couple are a match made in heaven - the perfect couple."

"Every couple will have their ups and their downs; it's inevitable, and they're bound to have their differences."

"For example, I asked Frank what he wanted from the marriage. He said to me that he wanted happiness, a family and to be with his lovely wife until the end of time. And when I asked Alice what she wanted from the marriage, she replied a new sofa and some nice plates. Not quite the same as Frank, but still at least she is easy to satisfy."

"I've known Alice for 7 years now. I've seen her with old boyfriends, but never happy, or in love. That's how I knew that Frank was the one for her. The first time I saw them together, she was a different person. She was relaxed, happy and carefree. This must have been the way that Frank made her feel, like the princess she is. He has shown her that she is special and shown her true love. I know that if I am half as happy and loved as Alice is when I get married, I will be blessed. And Alice and Frank, it's hard to put into words how seeing you together, so happy, makes all of us here today feel. And when we all witnessed you in the church today make those vows we all knew they would last forever."

"I know how insecure the bride has felt in relationships before and this morning she was a bag of nerves, wondering if Frank will show and listing all the things that may have gone wrong. So Alice, I'll tell you again what I told you this morning; Frank loves you. Your new life as Mrs Longbottom is just starting, so enjoy it."

"Alice it is a real honour to be your Maid of Honour. I am deeply moved for even knowing you, and even more so that you would grant me this opportunity. So thank you very much."

"Before I raise the toast there is one more thing that I want to say. Today there are people missing who should be here. Alice I know that wherever they are your parents are proud. And Frank I believe that your father would be filled with pride to see you with the woman that you love."

"So please join me in wishing the happy couple all the happiness in the world."

Around them people climbed once more to their feet and raise their glasses to the new Mr and Mrs Longbottom.

* * *

><p>Candles lit the walls as a section of the restaurant was cleared of tables and chairs. Sirius stood with his arms wrapped around Amanda as Frank led Alice onto the wooden floor. A slow tune started and everyone watched as Frank swept Alice up in movement.<p>

The singer began and Sirius watched the way Alice looked up at Frank smiling. Their eyes never left each other as they twirled around in time to the beat. Then the man leaned in and gently brushed his lips against his wife's. A bigger smile developed on their faces as the music changed.

Sirius moved one of his arms from around Amanda and he heard her little complaint until he moved towards the dance floor. She followed him and in one move wrapped herself into his embrace as they started to keep time to the beat. Around them others started to make their way up and before long they were one among many.

As Sirius spun Amanda in a circle he saw her laugh as she pulled herself back to him wrapping her arms around his neck. His went to he waist as they continued. Over the singing he heard her question.

"Are you enjoying the wedding?"

"More than if it had been ours."

She laughed shaking her head steadily.

"Alice looks gorgeous doesn't she."

"I don't think I've ever seen her look so beautiful, it's just a pity that there was one girl who outshone her."

"Who? I'll go thump her."

Sirius laughed as he brushed his fingers along Amanda's cheek before tilting her face to his.

"You silly."

"You charmer."

He kissed her gently just as the tempo of the music changed. Suddenly the slow songs had ended and the faster party songs were starting.

"Amanda! Sirius!"

They turned to see Alice waving at them. She and Frank had already been joined by Joe, James and Lily and they could see Branwen dragging Remus and Peter over to them. Amanda took hold of Sirius' hand and she dragged them over to where the group was. People had given them a wide space as Joe started doing some sort of jig whilst holding tightly onto Frank's hands.

As the music got louder and quicker Amanda let go of Sirius and moved off slightly on her own. He watched the way she wiggled her hips as she raised her hands in the air. The girls turned towards her and started calling her name clapping along to the music. Then Sirius almost chocked as she ripped the back of her skirt off and threw it over her shoulder.

Amanda was stood there in a tiny little skirt that barely covered anything! She was grinning as she managed to get hold of Joe and the two started dancing on top of each other. Sirius knew his eyes were wide as he looked at his friends. The other boys were laughing as both Branwen and Lily put their hands to their skirts in a way that indicated they wouldn't be taking theirs off.

Then Amanda was reaching and pulling Sirius towards her. He shook his head as he leaned in placing his mouth next to her ear.

"I'm guessing that's the only reason you agreed to wear a long skirt then."

She was laughing as she wrapped her arms around him drawing her own lips to his ear.

"I looked respectable for the ceremony and now I get to party."

She kissed him fiercely on the lips before releasing him and heading over to dance with Remus.

* * *

><p>Sirius closed his eyes briefly as he sat in the chair waiting for Amanda to come back from the bathroom. The night had been amazingly fun. His feet were killing him from all the dancing he had been forced to do. He didn't think any of them had sat down since the first dance.<p>

But it was late now. The celebrations were drawing to a close and most people had headed off. He knew that Joe had taken Branwen home and that James had just left to take Lily back to Pa Evans'.

"You look exhausted."

He opened his eyes and watched as Remus and Peter took seats around him. He gave a little nod.

"I haven't seen you two in hours. Where'd you get to?"

Remus didn't say anything but Peter was grinning as he folded his arms over his chest.

"We found a couple of single ladies who wanted to dance."

Sirius barked a laugh just as Amanda trotted out towards them. She was wobbling on her heels and he wondered if it might be smarter for her to take them off. All he needed was for her to fall and break her ankle. She dropped onto his lap and looked at the other two.

"Are you coming back to Sirius' tonight then?"

Remus shook his head.

"Nope. We're not moving in until tomorrow. I'm going to go back to my own bed tonight."

Peter shot Amanda a look then.

"Why are you planning on needing some privacy tonight and afraid I'll come in again?"

She laughed as she leaned her head back onto Sirius' chest. He wrapped his arms around her protectively as he answered Peter's question.

"She's drunk there's no way I'm dealing with that tonight. I'm going to lock her in her own room and sleep."

The three boys laughed as Remus looked around.

"Did anybody notice when Frank and Alice left?"

Sirius shook his head as he gave Amanda's forehead a little kiss. Remus grinned looking back at him and Amanda.

"Bet they're already in bed."

Amanda laughed as Peter made a little yelp and jumped to his feet. He looked around as if he had forgotten something. Then Sirius watched as his friend turned back to Amanda.

"Do you know where they're staying tonight Mand? It's about time I walk in on them I'd say."

Amanda's laughter increased as Sirius and Remus joined in. Peter gave them all a wink as he dropped back into his chair. The four sat there for a while before deciding that they really should head home.

* * *

><p>Just to answer 1 quick question. I've put that the main characters are James and Sirius and someone pointed out that the last one was Alice and Frank. This story carries on from the last 6 FFMN stories and follows all of the group throughout the stages of their lives. Each chapter is from the view of a different character this one is a Sirius chapter. The reason I marked it as James and Sirius is because as the story developes its going to become more focused on the two of them and the choices that are going to shape their lives. That's not to say that this isn't equally the story of Remus, Peter, Frank, Alice, Lily, Joe, Amanda and Branwen but I fell that in the way that I'm writing chapters its going to get to a point where they become the main focus point. I hope that's cleared up some of the confusion.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

How quickly the time seemed to go. The wedding seemed to have been such an important date for so long that when it was over it seemed like a distant memory to everybody. For two weeks Alice and Frank were in Italy in the Tuscany hills enjoy their honeymoon.

Whilst they were away Joe carried on with his best man duties by enlisting the help of his friends to move the new couple's belongings into the home they had bought. Care thought and love went into this task as everything was set up. They even placed photos of the pair's parents wedding days along with a blown up version of their own.

Also in this period Amanda was forced to come to terms with the knowledge that she really wasn't going to be living with Sirius for very long. Only three days after the wedding did Remus and Peter start moving their belongs in. Due to the fact that Peter wanted the room she had been in she was forced into Sirius' room. For most girls that wouldn't be a problem moving in with their boyfriend. But when the boyfriend was being a gentleman and not taking hints it became a problem.

That was why Amanda, Lily and Branwen stepped up their hunt for the perfect house. None of them could agree on a location other than London. It was becoming a daily argument for them all. But finally an affordable place showed up five streets away from the boys. It seemed like the perfect solution.

So only days before the wedded couple returned home they moved into their own place. Arguments of course ensued over who got what room and where to store things. But within days everything was running smoothly.

By the end of July it was strange to think for them that they had only been out of Hogwarts for a month. Each person was settled into the routine of daily life and felt comfortable in the knowledge that they were out in the real world living their lives.

* * *

><p>Okay so here it goes. I wrote up to chapter 15 and then had a major problem. My laptop died and the hard drive had to be wiped. I'd actually only saved up to chapter 2 on here. As such I've had to rewrite all the later chapters. Only thing is I don't remember what I had written.<p>

As such I've changed it all. This chapter was going to be a honeymoon chapter where we saw Frank and Alice in Tuscany. But instead I've now chosen to skip over that, because I'd had such a difficult time writing it in the first place. So I've skipped the two weeks and I think I know where I'm heading now.

So I apologise sincerely for the length of this chapter. And hopefully some of my later ones will make up for that.

Thanks Kris xx


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I can't believe I'm not living with you guys anymore."

Alice sighed into her glass of red wine again. Lily shared a look with Branwen and tried not to laugh. Alice had been repeating that one statement after every glass of wine. She was now on her fourth and Lily got the impression it was probably only going to get worse.

"Come off it. You're a married woman living with your husband. Have you got any idea of how jealous I am of you?"

She looked up and Lily chuckled into her glass as she glared at Amanda strangely.

"You realise you didn't have to move out of Sirius' place right."

"Of course I did Remus, Peter and James were all moving in."

"And do you think they would have said anything if you had continued to sleep in Sirius' room and not moved in here."

Amanda's mouth had dropped and Lily had to put her wine down before she spilt it she was now laughing so much. Branwen was holding her stomach next to her laughter pouring out of her mouth.

"Alice Sirius asked me to move out."

"He wanted you to say that you wanted to live with him. If you had refused he wouldn't have kicked you out and you could be curled up in bed with him now."

Amanda was shaking her head and looking for help. But Lily just couldn't stop laughing. Finally Amanda seemed to make a decision as she leaned over and took the wine glass from their blonde friend.

"No more wine for you. It makes you mean."

"I'm just telling the truth."

"Well stop telling the truth and tell us what Tuscany was like."

Lily finally caught her breath just as Alice said something to set her off again.

"I didn't see any of it."

She had the decency to blush as she said it and they all laughed. Branwen grinned wickedly at her though.

"Any chance of the pitter patter of little Longbottom feet soon then?"

The woman gave a little shrug and looked around the room.

"No more so than the pattering of Potter's or Wild's or more than likely Black's."

The room was silent for a moment and then Amanda spoke up. What she said led Lily to believe that Alice wasn't the only one that shouldn't drink any more wine.

"Are you not actually having sex with Frank then?"

Alice blushed again and looked puzzled.

"We're married of course we make love. Why would you ask that?"

"Because you said it was as likely as one of us having kids. Well since none of us have actually got that far with our boyfriends as far as I know of. It seems you are far more likely."

"You and Sirius' haven't slept together!"

Lily couldn't help it. The words were out of her mouth before she could help it. She slammed her hands to her lips and hoped her eyes showed she was sorry she had asked. Amanda shrugged slightly and shook her head.

"Nope. Why have you and James?"

"Of course not. We're taking things slow."

"Yeah so is Sirius. I swear I'm giving up. I've tried everything I can think of and every time he stops and says 'if I don't stop now I wont be able to' and it doesn't matter if I say don't stop he does."

She gave a soft laugh and shrugged it off. Lily was surprise by that. She was sure that Amanda and Sirius had reached that point whilst still in Hogwarts. She remembered one evening listening as Amanda had snuck out of the dorm room very late one night and had assumed she was with Sirius practicing for when they wanted children.

"What about you Bran?"

Alice really was on a ball today. She didn't seem to notice how she had been the one to bring on this conversation. She didn't even seem to notice that they were all sitting in positions that looked like they were highly uncomfortable with what was being discussed.

"Not yet."

Branwen didn't expand and thankfully Alice seemed to let it drop. Lily quickly changed the subject before Alice mentioned something else unseemly that they weren't ready to hear.

"Does everybody know when they start work yet? I'm going in September 3rd for my induction into the charms department."

Alice hiccupped and nodded.

"Yep James and I start September 2nd. We've got to meet with Moody and go over what it is we are expected to learn in the department and the way it's taught. Sounds like so much fun to me!"

Amanda took a sip of her wine and shrugged.

"September 7th. I have to report to potion making classes in the hospital. We have to demonstrate we can make potions and use healing charms before they let us loose. I'm going to be so bored because I passed the potion class last summer."

"13th August I'm going in. I've got no idea what it is for though. Apparently they won't tell me until I get there. They told me its part of the mystery of working in the Department of Mysteries. All I know is a guy called Eric will meet me at ten."

"Is there any food left?"

They all turned to look at Alice as she fell over. Lily jumped up laughing trying to steady her friend. A girls night in really was turning out to be as much fun as a night out.

* * *

><p>I am so sorry that it has been so long since I last posted. All I can really say is I have six months left in uni and lots of coursework that needs to be done. I will try and post sometime soon but at the moment I'm working on two major essays. So I am really sorry about the delay. But I haven't given up on this story and I will hopefully get to post something again soon<p>

Kris xx


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Stop encouraging her!"

Sirius looked up at Frank with a puzzled look.

"I'm not encouraging anyone."

Frank tried to hide his scepticism as Sirius turned back to the girl in front of him. The guy was so drunk Frank was surprised that he was still standing. Mind it wasn't as though he was the only one in a state. James and Joe were practically passed out at the table thanks to the drink game "I've never" apparently there was a lot those two hadn't done.

They had already lost Anton and Gideon. Frank was sure the two men hadn't left alone though. But he wasn't going to comment on that one. Mind not that it would be the first time those two had snuck off. Really it was a tradition when out drinking.

Frank tried to find the others but it was almost impossible in the crowd. He thought that Remus and Peter were out on the dance floor somewhere and he suspected that Kyle and Fabian might be with them.

"Oy Black what you doing?"

Frank groaned as John pushed passed him and walked straight into Sirius.

"Having a conversation. What does it look like?"

"It looks like your flirting. You've got a girlfriend at home her names Amanda in case you've forgotten."

"I'm not flirting and I know her name. It's Mandy."

Frank tried to push between the two men.

"Okay. John that pretty blonde in the red dress has been trying to get your attention for the last thirty minutes. Why don't you go buy her a drink while Sirius comes back to the table."

With the situation defused Sirius dropped onto a chair at the table. James hiccupped and looked at him quizzically.

"What's the shit?"

"Ahh?"

"It means what's wrong."

"Why don't you just say that then?"

"Cos apparently I don't swear enough."

"Shut up."

"No you shut up."

James had sat up and pushed Sirius. In his drunken state the push was a little harder than intended and Sirius ended up on the floor. The older boy was on his feet in seconds and had leaned across the table grabbing James by the collar.

"Don't you push me again you wanker."

Frank pushed between them with a sigh.

"Why am I the only one still sober?"

Joe looked up and chuckled.

"Cos you had a very dirty honeymoon mate. You've done everything."

It was true that Frank had taken only one shot in the game while the others were wasted.

"Can't help it if I've got a woman who loves me."

"I got one that loves me."

Sirius nodded almost to himself and Frank gave him a smile.

"You sure do."

"Do you think it's wrong that I keep telling her no? Isn't that the woman's job."

Frank cringed as both Joe and James laughed. But it was the boy's best friend that spoke up.

"At least you know she wants to sleep with you mate. I'm not sure Lily will ever want me that close."

"Don't be stupid she will. Branwen on the other hand well who knows where I stand with her."

Frank wanted to block this conversation out. It wasn't fair they were drunk enough so they wouldn't remember it in the morning. He however was nowhere near that drunk.

"Hey Sirius there's a girl in a white top over there staring at you."

On Joe's words the man turned around and Frank groaned. He gave her a charming smile that Frank knew from gossip was enough to make most girls melt. Then he turned back to the boys.

"Warren accused me of flirting with her."

"That's because you were."

He turned at Frank with a strange look.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Opps. Don't tell Mandy."

Frank picked up his glass hoping that he would be drunk enough soon to forget all of this.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Albus Dumbledore sat in a large room on his own waiting for the arrival of the new recruits to his Order. It was a strange feeling to think that only two months ago they had been his pupils and now they were out in the world facing the brutal truth of reality.

It was something he always thought about. Had they really prepared the students for life outside of Hogwarts? Really they only prepared them academically it was for the parents to do the rest. In some cases that meant they were able to function outside the walls and in others well…

He looked at his watch again. Was he expecting them to be early? From what he had learned about them in the seven years in Hogwarts the truth was he expected three to be early, one on time, one slightly late and three to turn up really late with a good excuse.

A chuckle came to his lips thinking about that. He really did know the group he was waiting for well. He had watched them for several years watching them grow from children into adults. He hadn't always expected to invite them all into the Order but each had proven themselves worthy over their time in school.

It was rather a shock actually never before had he allowed so many to join at once. Usually he had one or two at the most. But eight together showed how much he and others thought of these youngsters. But just because they were thought well of didn't mean that protocol was being broken. No existing member would be at this meeting other than himself.

Of course he was pretty sure that the group knew many of his members. After all one of the girls was married to a member and another dating one. He was also very much aware of the fact that they socialised with another five members on a regular basis. Yes he was pretty much sure they already knew much of what he was going to tell them but it still had to be said.

The door slowly opened and he watched as a pale face lit with dark eyes and framed with equally dark hair peered round the corner at him. A bright smile lit her face and Albus smiled back. Yes his niece by marriage Branwen Ddraig. He watched in silence as she entered with two of her friends.

He remembered the day she was born and the tragedy that once more rocked their family. It had been difficult to sit there three men with this tiny little girl in their arms. But she had shone amongst the men in her family and what he saw now was a beautiful woman who was the image of her mother.

Little Alice Scott sat next to her. No that was wrong it was Alice Longbottom now. It was always a strange sensation to him to meet students who had married. It made him feel old to think that he remembered them when their names were different. It also made him realise how they weren't children anymore and couldn't be treated as such. For if someone was old enough to marry they were old enough to face the deadly decisions of the world.

Yet when he looked at Alice he felt the same tinge of guilt. The knowledge that she had lost her biological family due to his invite into this very Order. Her brother had been only the age she was now when he had lost his life. Yet just like her father and brother she was strong and brave and she had accepted the invite with that knowledge.

The last girl, no woman present was Lily Evans. Again he remembered how much she had changed. Some times it was hard to believe that she was the same child that had started Hogwarts. So accident prone she had spent the first six months taking weekly visits to the hospital wing. But like the other two she had matured and a strong elegant lady sat before him.

"I'm glad to see that you had no difficulty finding this place."

"No headmaster you instructions made it easy."

He smiled gently at the girl and shook his head.

"My dear I am no longer your headmaster. Please call me Albus."

A red blush spread to Lily's cheeks at this but she simply nodded. Alice though propped her elbows up on the table and tilted forward looking at him closely.

"Frank said that there'll be no existing members here today. Is that true?"

He had guessed right in their knowledge of at least one other member.

"Yes I'm afraid so. It was for safety. The fewer people you meet in the beginning the safer the others will feel. You have to earn the trust of the other members."

"I think it's rather stupid since I personally can name nine members other than yourself and I'm sure the others can to."

"That might be Alice but still we will follow protocol."

"Do you think the others will be much longer Albus?"

He smiled at Branwen and tilted his head in her direction.

"You know them better than I do."

She pulled a face and folded her arms as he studied his watch. Their meeting was due to start in thirty seconds. He watched as the second hand ticked down and with only ten seconds left the door opened. He smiled as the new comer entered.

Remus Lupin was not your typical candidate for this sort of thing he was more than aware of that fact. There had been some who had challenged him on wanting to admit him but the boy had good friends who battled his corner on the matter and the truth was he deserved to be admitted. Remus could provide them with a new direction in which to take the war and a way to prove to others that sometimes you shouldn't judge.

"Am I late?"

Albus shook his head.

"Exactly on time actually."

He took a seat and looked around. There was a quizzical stare that made Albus think that the boy was trying to work out what excuse the others would make. It was less than five minutes before the door opened again and a short, slightly over weight man edged in.

"I'm really sorry. I got lost. I went left when I should have gone right. I didn't think I'd find the place."

He dropped into the seat next to Remus and didn't say another word. He didn't look up from his hands as if he was uncomfortable in the presence of the people around him. Albus knew that wasn't the case though. These were the few individuals to whom Peter Pettigrew felt it alright to be himself.

Albus had watched this man very carefully over the years. He had been afraid of a weakness that could have prevented him from being involved. He had wondered if he was able to keep a big secret from others. But he knew that the boy was brave. An incident in their fifth year had sealed his place amongst them. Albus knew that it was difficult to stand up against enemies but if someone was brave enough to stand against a friend they could do anything. Peter had done that when he had run to his office to say that Sirius Black had sent a student after a werewolf. Yes Albus believed this man could cope with this.

"They're late."

Albus looked up and watched how Lily was addressing Remus. It was true that it was now half an hour since they were suppose to meet. The man gave her a little shrug.

"When I left Amanda and Sirius were screaming at each other and James was trying to stop them from throwing things around."

"It's Sirius' fault."

Alice's voice was faint and if the room had been filled they wouldn't have heard it. Peter though quickly jumped to his friends defence.

"Nothing happened though. He had a few drinks and flirted with some girl. It's not as if he made a move on her. And if Warren wasn't so desperate to break him and Amanda up so he could make a move there wouldn't be a problem."

"John doesn't fancy Mand Pete! He didn't even want to tell her, Amanda's just good at dragging information out of people."

Branwen sounded bored as though this was a typical argument. And as far as Albus knew maybe it was. Just then the door opened and was slammed shut instantly.

"Hey you almost had my face."

A voice sounded angry through the door as it started to open again.

"Pity you weren't walking faster then."

He watched as Amanda Dixon stormed over to where the girls were sitting and threw herself into her seat. He tried to hide a smile as he thought about how some things never changed. She had inherited that temper from her father along with her dark eyes. Thankfully for her that was all she had taken from her father.

As he watched her his mind did a quick tally. There was a long list of reasons why she shouldn't have been invited to this meeting. Yet all of them were out weighed by the fact that she had chosen to fight. She provided them with a unique advantage that no other did. According to Taliesin she thought like a death eater. It had given her the advantage the Christmas before when she and her friends had been attacked.

"Really mature Amanda. When are you going to act your age?"

"Maybe when you start acting like an adult Sirius Black people will start treating you like one."

Albus was surprised that everyone else looked at the ground. It was clear that they didn't want to be brought into the argument. The man simply walked over to the opposite side of the table and sat down. His eyes locked with his girlfriends and didn't waver as she stared him down.

Again Albus thought about this man. Just like the girl Sirius Black had doubters when it came to his involvement in this. But the choices he had made had led him here. He had turned his back on his family and beliefs and stood shoulder to shoulder with those apposed to Voldemort. He had clearly chosen a side and it was that reason why he was there.

The last man to enter closed the door and stood just inside looking at Dumbledore. He studied the messy hair and hazel eyes as he looked around.

"Can I apologise to everyone for keeping you waiting. There is no excuse and it won't happen again."

Albus smiled knowing full well it would happen every time. James Potter had never been on time for anything, not even his own birth. But how he had matured. He spoke with such confidence and his words were sincere. This was a man of courage and integrity and they needed more of them.

"Well now that everybody is here may I welcome you to the Order of the Phoenix. Today I am going to explain what the Order is and give you a chance to walk away if you do not want to be involved …."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The nerves were already starting to kick in. It felt so strange to be stood in the atrium of the Ministry building. Branwen knew that nerves were a good thing she'd always had a good dose of them before Quidditch games and exams. But this felt different. Maybe because this was something she was facing on her own.

It was only the second week of August and already she was starting her job. She was the first one out of the group to do so, well this year anyway. Joe had been trying to keep her calm the night before telling her that everything would be fine and she'd love what she was going to be doing.

But that was part of the problem she had no idea what it was she would be doing. Unlike her friends she had gotten a job in the Department of Mysteries. She didn't know what went on there and she already understood that she would never get to tell her friends about her job. It was strange really. She had wondered about where she would work for a while but she never dreamt that she would be recruited.

It was an honour though to have somebody in the ministry believe that she was the type of person that they wanted in the department but that didn't make it any less scary. With shaky hands she hit the button for the lifts and waited for one appear. It was just past seven thirty and the halls were still quiet she couldn't help but remember being here during the summer between fifth and sixth year and how busy it would get.

She stood alone in the lift and waited for it to descend to the correct level. It was only moments before the metal frame was dragged open and she was stood in a long cold corridor. She felt sick as she looked down. She hadn't spent much time in the ministry but she knew that the court rooms were down here somewhere. Suddenly she had even more sympathy for her friends who had been to the courts. Having to see this first would terrify her so much that she probably wouldn't be able to speak straight and testify.

It felt like a long walk to the lonely door at the end of the corridor and when she reached it she had no idea what to expect. Was she suppose to go in? Or was she expected to knock on the door and wait for someone to answer. As she pondered her options a sound behind her made her turn. She watched a blonde man fall out of the lift and drop a pile of sheets all over the floor. He pounced on them and in seconds had them in order as he walked towards her.

He was the most mismatched man she had ever seen. His hair was golden and his eyes a startling blue that seemed almost icy. Yet there was a twinkle in them signalling life. His skin was so pale she was surprised it wasn't see through yet his lips were dark. Then there was his clothing. Black trainers that were smudged with brown mud then purple robes with green and red swirls. She felt dizzy just watching him.

She was silent as he made his way towards where she stood. He seemed lost in his own world as he opened the door and walked into the department. In amazement she watched the door close behind him. Before she could make up her mind if she should follow his lead the door opened again and he stuck his head out.

"You Ddraig?"

"Branwen yes."

"Well get your arse inside there's work to be done."

Quickly she stepped inside the room and felt her mouth drop. She was surrounded by twelve identical doors with no markings on them. The floor beneath her had been polished so carefully that she felt as though she was almost stood upon water. The blue lights of the burning candles suddenly spun around and she felt dizzy as she realised the doors were moving.

"First things first to get out simply hold your wand pointed to the ceiling and say exit. The correct door will open for you instantly. Now lets see Planet room."

A door to her right opened and the man walked in there. Without hesitation she followed him inside. She didn't want to get lost in here.

"My name is Eric Allen and I've been an Unspeakable for five years. I'm not your supervisor and I'm not the one you'll be working with but Lockhart won't be in until after nine there's some problem with his son. So sit down and don't touch anything."

He dropped his papers onto a desk and took a seat. She followed suit and looked around the room. It was the strangest thing she had ever seen. There were models of the planets floating close to the ceiling. The room was almost in total darkness except for five candles set up at the desk.

"What is this place?"

Eric looked up from his papers with a smile on his face.

"This is my room. I work here with Tabitha Orwell, Sandra Strange, Neela Pearce, Stevie Green and Jonathon Cast. We're trying to determine the origins of the universe and if it is a viable belief that we can get to these planet and set up communities. We've been considering maybe putting a prison on Mars for the followers of You-Know-Who. Send them there by a port key and let them sustain themselves. But at the moment it seems that is just a dream."

He stared off into nothing lost in his thoughts as Branwen tried to take in what he had just said.

"Are all the rooms like this one?"

He smiled and shook his head.

"No we have six rooms that are a little odd maybe you could say. Then there are four offices and a toilet. That's where the twelve doors led to."

"That was only eleven."

"Ones the exit remember."

She nodded slowly.

"I'm not going to be working in this room then?"

"No. We've got six teams all working in different rooms. The smallest is made up of three people and the biggest twelve. You'll be joining Lockhart's team of seven others in one of the other rooms."

He looked up from his work and studied her for a moment.

"How about I show you around a little."

"Thanks. That would be great."

They walked back into the strange entrance room and as their door closed the rooms all spun around. When it stopped Eric looked at her closely.

"Now like I said we have four offices. The Head of the Department is Mr. Golding he has his own. Then the other three are shared by the heads of the teams. So Cast is the head of the planet room and he shares an office with Hill. Then Lockhart is in with Stubbs and Frost and Marshall share the last office. To get to the offices you hold your wand pointed at the ceiling and you say 'Casts office' and the door will open. It's that simple."

He smiled at her kindly.

"To get to the toilets it's exactly the same. Once the door opens you head inside there's two more doors. Men's toilets are on the right and women's on the left. Don't worry if you forget there's a sign on the door."

"That's a relief."

He laughed lightly and looked at the closed doors.

"Where should we start? Well you've already seen the planet room so let's try the time room. That's where Hills team works. He raised his wand and one of the doors opened. Branwen cautiously walked towards it and stuck her head inside.

Unlike the other rooms this one was bright. There were dancing, beautiful diamond sparkling lights flickering off the wall. The echoing sounds of ticks ran the length of the room supplied by hundreds of clocks that lined the walls and gaps. Branwen's eyes though were dragged to the source of the light. At the far end of the room stood a table with a bell jar on top of it. Inside was an egg and as she got closer she noticed that it hatched and a bird fluttered up towards the top of the jar. As it got higher the bird became older then it would fall back towards the bottom growing younger until back inside its egg. Then the process would repeat.

"This is the Time room. I can't tell you much about it because I'm not part of the team. But they control the Time-Turners and they are researching I believe the affects of time. But like I said I'm not on the team."

Branwen turned and noticed that Eric didn't look impressed by the room. He was waving her back into the main room. She followed and the doors spun again. This time he spoke softly but his words sent tingles through her body.

"The Death Chamber."

When the door opened she let Eric go through first. This room was dimly lit except for a stone pit in the middle of the rectangular room. She didn't move from near the entrance as she looked down at the rows of stone benches that ran down towards a raised stone dais in the middle of the pit. On top of it was a crumbling stone archway unsupported by anything. She could see a tattered black curtain fluttering from within and felt her skin tingle with fear. Eric's voice was low.

"This is Marshall's room. Nobody but his team usually enter it's a room that sends shivers through most people. It's really creepy sometimes you can hear whispered voices coming through that archway. I don't like this place. They're trying to research death and what comes after but I'd stay away if I was you."

He turned and left the room quickly. Branwen though looked down at the dais there was something about the archway that had her worried. She felt as though it was calling to her. It took all her strength to ignore whatever it was and turn and follow Eric back into the main part. As the doors spun again she wondered if this was something you got use to. It was crazy to her that the doors would change positions but Eric didn't seem to notice it at all.

"Okay so next room ummm …. Hall of Prophecy."

A door opened and Eric looked back at Branwen.

"This room is also accessible through the time room. But it does have its own entrance."

They walked into a room and Branwen didn't know how she should react. It was a vast chamber that was as high as the Great Hall in Hogwarts. But unlike the hall it was filled with rows and rows of shelves. Walking towards the first one she saw a bracket holding a candle that burned with a blue flame. The light showed a sign that said Row 1. Looking up she could see that it went miles backwards.

"How many rows are there?"

"I'm not sure I don't work here. You're best off asking Stubbs but I'm pretty sure I heard Walter say that they were up to the nineties."

Branwen simply shook her head as she moved forward and looked at the glass orbs that lined the shelves. She had heard of prophecies before and knew that these dusty old things were copies of the original ones. The yellow tags would say who made the prophecy, who had witnessed it and who or what it was about. But she had never imagined that they had so many.

"Tad would love this place."

"Pardon?"

"Sorry. I was just thinking my grandfather would have loved this place. He had a fascination about prophecies. He use to say that it was a gift that was misunderstood."

"Come on I've got two more rooms to show you."

They headed back to the main hall and once the doors had stopped spinning Eric looked at Branwen closely.

"Frost has the smallest team in this place there are only two others working with him. What they do is the most fascinating thing in this place, and coming from an Unspeakable on another team that is big praise. They study what is behind the 'locked door'. Nobody can get inside only them and they can only enter for a few minutes at a time because what they study is so powerful."

"What is it?"

"Love. It's more powerful than magic and harder to understand. It's something all people crave and due to it are willing to give up their lives for others. What we understand is a tiny portion of it. Frost and his team are trying to get a better grasp. But its hard."

"So nobody else can get into that room?"

"No. So instead I'm going to take you to the room you'll be working in."

Branwen's stomach knotted as Eric spoke his next words.

"Brain room."

A door opened and Branwen entered the room slightly ahead of Eric. She stopped just inside and tried to take everything in. There were gold chains hanging from the ceiling holding lamps that lit a long rectangular room. Desks littered the almost empty space all facing an enormous tank. It was filled with what looked like green liquid and as Branwen moved closer she noticed white blobs in it. But looking closer the blobs were in fact brains. She could feel her eyes widen as she looked at them.

"This is where you'll be working under Lockhart. Again I'm no expert on what is done here but I can tell you the basics. At the moment this is where most of the research is taking place within the department. Don't get me wrong we all do research but for the time being what you'll be researching could potentially change what is happening to people in the real world today."

"What do you mean?"

"Lockhart's team is researching the affect of the Forbidden Curses on the brain."

Branwen stiffened as she looked at the tank. Yes that was important research at this time. If they could work out what was happening maybe they could reverse the affects on people. Of course the killing curse would be one too many but she had heard of the other curses having long term affects on people.

As Eric said goodbye she sat at one of the desks and waited for her new co-workers to arrive. Her own brain though was working through just how much this could help with the war outside. Suddenly she wished that this was something she could tell people about.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Peter straightened his tie again before patting his hair into place. His hands were a little shaky as he stepped into the large waiting area of the office. He tried to look as though he belonged and wasn't terribly scared as he walked over to a desk.

"Good morning and welcome to the Daily Prophet. How can I help you today?"

Peter gulped and tried to smile friendly.

"I have an appointment with Mr Fox at ten o'clock."

The woman looked down at something and then back at him. There was something in her face that made him panic a little.

"Pettigrew?"

"That's right."

She looked down again and then back up. The quizzical look had left her face and a bright smile was once again upon her lips.

"If you'd like to take a seat it will only be a moment."

He gave a little nod before turning and taking a seat. He already hated this. Why oh why did you have to go to interviews to get a job? He had been thinking long and hard about what he wanted to do now that he had left school and the truth was he didn't know. He wondered how his friends could be so certain about what they wanted to do.

Maybe it was a trait that ran in his family, or maybe he was just so pathetic he had never considered life outside of Hogwarts. That might seem strange but he had never truly thought this day would come. He felt as though he would have been in school forever and the fact that he was now out in the world still felt strange and wrong to him.

"Are you alright? You look a little queasy."

Peter looked up and found himself staring into the grey eyes of a very pretty girl. He tried not to stare at her but it was almost impossible. Her dusty blonde hair fell in waves to her waist around her heart shaped face and he found himself just looking at it.

"Hello are you listening?"

He shook his head quickly and blinked rapidly several times.

"Sorry I was lost in my own little world."

"I hope it was better than this one."

"Not really."

She dropped onto the seat next to him.

"So you're here for the photographer job then."

He gave a small smile.

"That obvious?"

"Not really. I'm Alesha Burke I'm Mr Fox's new assistant. I've come to take you through."

Peter stood up and tried to smile.

"What's he like?"

"Really nice. You don't need to worry. Trust me he interviewed me last week. Just be yourself and you'll be alright."

"You're new!"

She laughed and he thought it was the most wonderful sound he had ever heard.

"Yes. It's my first job since school."

He looked at her closely. She didn't look much older than him; in fact she could easily be the same age. He tried to place her in Hogwarts. She hadn't been a Gryffindor he knew that for a fact, but he couldn't remember her in any of the other houses.

"What house were you in?"

She looked a little startled before smiling gently.

"None. I didn't go to Hogwarts."

"Oh that's why I can't place you. What school did you go to then?"

"None. My mum home schooled me. She said that if I went to Hogwarts I would only learn magic. But there was so much more I needed to learn. She believes that a woman belongs in the home raising a family. So by teaching me at home she could ensure that I learnt how to cook, clean and tidy like a proper housewife."

Peter was startled by that. He knew the idea that women didn't belong in the work place. His mother was a strong believer of that as were some of his friend's parents. In fact of all his friends the only one whose mother worked was Remus. His mum worked as a robe maker in Diagon Alley.

"How come you're working here then?"

She gave him a crafty grin that made his stomach knot, much to his confusion.

"I managed to convince her that I would never be a housewife if she didn't let me out to meet guys. I told her that since she hadn't let me go away to school I didn't know any boys and that the only way I would meet one is if she let me work."

"So you played her then."

She nodded as they reached a door.

"I didn't like the idea of never leaving the house. Good luck with your interview Mr. Pettigrew I look forward to working closely with you."

As she knocked the door and a voice called for them to enter he felt his brain kick in. The girl was flirting with him. He couldn't remember the last time a girl had shown any interest in him. He didn't know what he should do. Should he be all cool? Should he flirt back? Time was running out and he just smiled as he walked into the office.

Mr Fox was sat behind a large oak desk. Papers were stacked up around him and Peter felt very nervous as he headed towards the seat opposite.

"Good morning Mr. Pettigrew. I'm Taylor Fox Editor in Chief. Please take a seat."

"Thank you and its Peter. Mr. Pettigrew was my father."

The man studied him and nodded after a moment.

"Very well. So I'm a busy man so I'll get right to the point. I'm surprised that somebody like you would want to work for a newspaper."

Peter was startled as he looked at him closely.

"Why is that Mr. Fox?"

"Peter it's no secret who you are and who your friends are. In the past I've printed stories about them and their families and your own that were not flattering. So why would you want to trade your soul to the devil?"

Peter bit his lip and looked at the desk. It was littered with old copies of papers and he saw the headlines the man had mentioned. He'd either put them there to get a reaction or had been considering his question long and hard. Peter picked up a paper and showed it to the man.

"Amanda use to have the worse nightmares when we were in our third year. I remember she use to sneak up to our dorm room and crawl into bed next to Sirius. None of us understood why at the time. Not until the trial of Alistair Dixon. Alice was the only one in the room with her that day we were all still in Hogwarts. I remember when they returned she threw herself at Sirius and cried. Alice told us while he held her and the thing she worried most about was how it would be printed. We all knew that would make the news."

Peter looked at the headline of the paper he was holding carefully.

"When we saw this paper I realised something. The truth has to be told when it affects so many but the way it is reported can be sensitive. You could have made that the headline but you didn't. You made the headline the fact that my father had been witnessed at the murder. You spoke about the scene at the Dunn's house in depth. Then half way through you wrote two sentences… '_Alistair Dixon has caused more damage to his youngest daughter than most fathers could ever imagine. Evidence has been put forward that he raped the girl and murdered her best friend._' That was all you printed of it. You didn't mention the fact that she tried to kill herself and you brushed over the scene that you saw in the court. You say that I want to trade my soul to the devil but you are not the devil. You have printed horrible truths about my father and my friends families but never have you printed slander, never have you speculated that we might follow them. And you left my mother alone. Other people didn't they followed her to get stories. But the Prophet left her to herself. I want to work for a paper like that."

"I'm not a reporter Sir. I can't write well but I have a gift with a camera. I want my photos to be used by you and no-one else."

Peter waited as silence followed his statement. Then Mr. Fox leaned forward and indicated to the folder that Peter was holding.

"Well can I have a look at the samples you brought me?"

"I didn't know what you would want to see. So I brought a couple of different ones. This one was last November. The snow had just fallen in Hogwarts for the first time and I raced to the doors and opened them. Nobody had been outside and the snow was perfect."

It was a simple landscape scene. The lawns of Hogwarts were blanketed in soft white snow. There were umbrellas in the shape of trees casting shadows over the ground as the sky above was clear with the perfect blue colour shining.

"It's very pretty. But stills are easy to take. Have you got anything a little more challenging?"

Peter smiled as he pulled out a couple of photos taken from the final Quidditch game in Hogwarts for him and his friends. It had been Gryffindor against Ravenclaw a game that had settled the winner of the Cup. Gryffindor had reclaimed it after losing it for the first time in five years the year before.

The first photo was of Sirius. He was sat on his broom as the Quaffle came soaring towards him. It was slightly too low for him to reach and quickly he looped his leg around the broom and let go swinging to catch the ball. Then he straightened up and threw the ball out of frame. Then it would start again. It was an excellent save that Sirius loved to do. Peter remembered how Alice would always close her eyes and chant 'don't fall off' under her breath when he did it.

"Wow. That's a great save and an excellent photo of it."

"Thank you that's my friend Sirius Black. This one is James Potter scoring and celebrating with Amanda Dixon."

The picture showed James releasing the Quaffle and it sailing past the opposing keeper. His right arm went straight up over his head as he punched the air while Amanda slapped his back. Both were smiling and laughing happy to have scored another goal.

He handed it over to Mr. Fox and saw the way his eyebrow rose.

"This one here shows Branwen Ddraig knocking the Quaffle out of Harper's hands using her beating skills and Jackie catching it."

The man took that photo and looked up at Peter.

"Have you got many more like this?"

"I've got photos from every game Gryffindor played since our fourth year. Some of them are like those some are of players falling off brooms, or fouling. I've got a really good one of the Slytherin team blocking Amanda with their brooms and her slapping her brother across the head so hard he fell off his broom. That's a good one to see."

"Peter you've got an eye for the action photo. I think we can use someone like that."

"I can take gentler photos too mind. This one here is from my friends wedding back in July."

He pushed a photo of Frank and Alice in their first dance towards the man. He smiled as he looked up at.

"The bats are playing the Cannons on Wednesday night. Are you free?"

Peter grinned amazed that he had just gotten a job.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"So does anybody know what we're doing here?"

From the looks on the faces nobody knew. Sirius looked at his watch again as a waiter came and poured them more wine. It was nearly eight and they were all waiting for Peter to arrive. He had no idea what was happening.

An owl had arrived at four telling him that they would all be having a meal that night at seven thirty in Antonio's. Sirius had to admit that it was a nice looking restaurant and wondered where Peter had heard of it from as it was muggle and none of them had been there before.

"Are you ready to order yet?"

The waiter looked at them all and it was Frank who answered.

"We're waiting for somebody else. But if he's not here in ten minutes we'll order without him."

The waiter nodded before walking away. Sirius looked around at his friends they were all there except for Peter. Remus looked at his watch this time shaking his head.

"It's not like Peter to be late, well this late anyway. I hope he's okay."

Nobody responded. It was something that wasn't spoken about. Sometimes people just didn't turn up and were never seen again. But that wouldn't happen to Peter. Sirius took the silence to look at his friends. So much had changed over the last few years for them.

James was sat between Lily and Remus. He wondered how long it would be before James asked Lily to marry him. They hadn't been together a year yet but it was clear to everyone that they would last. Then next to Lily was Joe who had his fingers locked with Branwen's on the table. They looked comfortable together.

On Branwen's other side sat Alice. She was leaning against Frank looking at his menu her own folded closed in front of her. They looked so happy together. Married life seemed to suit them. For some reason there were two empty seats next to Frank and then it was him with Amanda next to Remus. Sirius was holding her hand under the table as she looked at the menu. He could tell she was trying to decide between Pollo alla Griglia and Tagliatelle alla Bolognese as she kept tapping the words with her free hand.

"Sorry I'm late."

Sirius looked up to see Peter come rushing over to their table. But suddenly the second empty seat made a lot of sense. There was a pretty looking girl with him. She looked a little nervous as Peter pulled out the one next to Frank for her before he dropped into the second seat.

"Everybody this is my new friend Alesha. I had to wait for her to get changed that's why we're late."

"Pete word of warning mate. You never blame the girl for being late."

Joe winked at him and Sirius saw the colour rush to the girls face. Sirius simply smiled as he picked up the menu. The waiter was back and everybody ordered. When they had done so all eyes went to Peter. He though seemed not to notice. Sirius caught the way he glanced out of the side of his eye at the girl next to him.

"So are you going to introduce us or do we have to do it ourselves."

Peter looked at Amanda quickly but the girl, Alesha beat him to a reply. Sirius was surprised to hear a Scottish accent on the girl.

"I know who you all are. You're Amanda Dixon and that's Sirius Black your boyfriend next to you. Remus Lupin is the other side of you. Then there's James Potter, Lily Evans, Joseph Wild, Branwen Ddraig, Alice Scott no sorry Longbottom and Frank Longbottom."

Sirius was impressed. The girl smiled and carried on.

"I'm Alesha Burke I'm Taylor Fox from the Prophet's personal assistant. I've read about you all in the papers and seen your pictures. You have to have lived under a rock for the last couple of years not to have heard of you guys."

Sirius shared a look with James across the table. The girl had done her research. Or maybe she had known of them from school. In all fairness they had been well known in Hogwarts and even though he didn't recognise her didn't mean she wouldn't recognise them. Frank seemed to think the same thing.

"If you don't mind me asking Alesha how old are you?"

"I just turned eighteen in July."

"So you've just finished school then. Funny I don't recognise you and I thought I knew everyone in our year."

Branwen had leaned forward in a strange manner. Sirius had seen a similar look on Tad throughout the years. It was a look that said she didn't trust what she had heard. But before the girl could answer Peter was speaking up.

"Alesha didn't go to Hogwarts. She was home schooled. And well I thought it would be nice to invite her to dinner with us to celebrate my good news."

That seemed to catch everyone's attention. Sirius tried to think what news Peter could have. Maybe his mum had come to her senses and was no longer miserable that his father had left them and drinking herself to death. Remus though was grinning as he spoke to Peter.

"You got it then."

"Yep he loved the Quidditch photos and hired me after seeing them."

"Wait you got a job?"

Peter turned and looked at Sirius with laughter in his eyes.

"Yes. I am the new sport photographer for the Prophet. I have to cover the Bats and Cannon game on Wednesday."

Suddenly it got very loud as everybody start to congratulate Peter for his achievement. As the food arrived though and conversations started to break out between them all Peter leaned in and caught Sirius' attention.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How do you flirt?"

"I don't Amanda would kill me. Remember what happened after the bar!"

Sirius looked over his shoulder. But Amanda was chatting with Remus. Peter was shaking his head slowly at Sirius.

"I just meant in general."

Sirius looked closely at Peter and suddenly got the meaning to the question. He smiled leaning closer.

"You don't need to flirt. Trust me just ask the girl out and she'll say yes. She's been checking you out the entire evening."

Peter looked startled as he sat back up. Sirius couldn't help laughing. Amanda turned and gave him a look. He leaned in close and kissed her cheek. It looked like some more things were about to change.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Come on you'll be late at this rate."

Alice looked at herself in the mirror one more time. Straightening her jumper once more she stepped out of the bathroom and faced her husband. That still sounded strange to her sometimes.

"Are you sure I look okay."

"You look as gorgeous as ever."

She smiled as she took his hand. With a pop they left the house and headed to the Ministry.

* * *

><p>James was stood in the atrium next to the fountain. He was suddenly feeling very nervous about the day ahead of him. He looked at his watch again wondering where Alice was. He was always more likely to be the one that was late rather than her.<p>

"James!"

He looked up as Frank and Alice moved through the crowd. With a quick breath he fell into step next to them. Alice looked as nervous as he was. Frank though was whistling a happy tune to himself. It was such a strange thing in the world. But obviously Frank had made it through the first year of training.

As they stepped into a lift James leaned towards Alice.

"It feels strange not to be heading to Kings Cross doesn't it?"

She gave him a strange smile before responding.

"I can't get use to the idea that today is September 1st and we aren't running to get the train. I guess we really have grown up."

"Guess we have. Grown up and starting work."

She nodded as she looked around the small space. It was a moment before she spoke up again.

"Do you realise how strange this really is though James?"

"What do you mean?"

"Our dads spent their entire working lives in the same department and here we are about to start work together. It feels right though doesn't it."

He thought about it a moment before giving her a true smile.

"Us working together feels about the only right thing today."

As the door opened James felt a knot form in his stomach.

* * *

><p>Alice smiled as she copied down the notes from the blackboard. There was going to be a lot of things that they were going to have to learn to become Aurors. But that excited her so much. They had spent most of the morning practicing the basics of stealth and what that would entail.<p>

She had been so surprised to find that she was actually pretty good at it. She had worried so much that what she would need to learn would be too hard for her. It had never crossed her mind that she would be able to do it.

The fact that James had been good at stealth work hadn't surprised her in the least. He had snuck around Hogwarts for seven years causing trouble. Sure he had been caught but on a number of occasions he had managed to get away with it all.

"Now go get some lunch and this afternoon we are going to try camouflage."

She stood up and looked at James. They were the only two that had joined the department this year.

"Where should we go?"

"How about that café opposite."

* * *

><p>James tried not to swear as he watched Alice get the spell on the third attempt. He wasn't use to failing. But he couldn't even get the words out of his mouth in the correct manner. He wanted to scream. Nothing had ever been this difficult for him before. He didn't like the way that it was making him feel.<p>

"Why don't we call it a day? I'll see you both tomorrow at nine."

James stood up and headed straight out of the room. He could see that Moody wanted a word with Alice but he couldn't cope with that. As he headed into the main room with all the booths he saw Frank stood to one side next to another Auror. James made his way over to them.

"I can't believe how hard this is!"

Frank looked up at him with a look he had seen so many times before.

"You can cut that out Frank I know what you're thinking."

"James not everything can be easy."

"I've never struggled like this before though."

Frank smiled gently at that.

"I know what you mean. But training has to be hard because what we're going to face is. They need to know that we can actually perform the spells that we'll need to survive. Don't worry it took me a month to get use to stealth."

"I can do stealth. I had plenty of practice in Hogwarts for that. Its camouflage I can't seem to do."

"That'll come. Nobody gets it straight away."

"Alice did."

Frank laughed and shook his head slowly.

"Trust, looks like I'll have to be careful around the house then won't I."

James laughed at that and nodded his head.

"I guess it would be strange if I wasn't worried about what is to come right."

"I'm still worried mate. I thought that the first part of the training was hard but its nothing compared to going out there and using it in real situations. The key is just be determined that you'll do your best and you will. It's like Quidditch. We use to go out secure that we would do our best and then we did. Sometimes we won and sometimes we didn't but we never gave up."

James smiled as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Determination is half the battle. As long as we do our best we can't lose. That was our motto."

"It's still mine."

James stood there and thought about it. So it was difficult he knew it would be they only took the best in this department. But he knew that he wouldn't give up ever. He knew that he would try his hardest and in the end he'd make it. He always had.

* * *

><p>"Longbottom I'm impressed."<p>

Alice smiled weakly as Moody stood over her.

"Really?"

"Yes. You need to practice your stealth a bit but your camouflage is excellent for someone at your stage. You've got potential girl."

Alice smiled as she headed towards the door. This was right. She couldn't understand why she had been so worried about her first day in work. She had something that she wanted to fight for and she was determined that she would succeed. She could only hope that tomorrow would be as good as today.

She spotted James stood by Frank and headed over to them. They were both watching her carefully. She smiled as she reached them.

"I'll see you tonight Frank."

"Sure."

He kissed her cheek and she looked at James.

"You fancy a drink?"

"You read my mind Alice. Let's go to the Cauldron."

With a wave goodbye to Frank they stepped into the lift. She knew that they had both achieved different things today. But her optimism gave her the strength to believe that they would both make it through the training. And then one day they would be top Aurors in this department. One day maybe one of them would be the new Moody. Yes they would make it.

* * *

><p>Hi guys<p>

I'm really sorry about the length of time its taken for me to post these chapters. I can only apologise and say that I've just finished my degree and started looking for jobs so got a little distracted. Bright side there should be more regular posts over the next few months. So I hope you liked these two chapters and more next week

Kris xx


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The grate opened and Lily stepped out into a corridor filled with doors. Slowly she wandered down the walkway until she came to the one that she knew that she wanted. Outside was a desk with an elderly looking witch sat at it. Lily smiled broadly as she waited for the woman to look at her.

"Yes."

"Hello. My name is Lily Evans. I'm starting here today. I'm suppose to meet Ms. Clarkson."

"Yes she is expecting you. Knock the door and head straight inside dear."

Lily smiled and turned to the door. Before she raised her hand though she flattened her shirt against her long skirt. Then she quickly ran her fingers through her hair. Her fringe was getting slightly long; maybe she should have had it trimmed yesterday before work. But she knew it was too late to think about that.

She raised her hand and knocked firmly and waited to be called entrance. Taking a breath she opened the door and stepped inside. A woman in her late forties was sat at a desk. Lily closed the door and headed over. The woman looked her up and down and again Lily thought of her need for a haircut.

"You must be Lily Evans."

"Yes Ms. Clarkson."

"Flitwick speaks highly of you."

"You know Professor Flitwick."

"I do. And he instructed me that I would be foolish to let you slip through my fingers. He told me that you were the best charm worker he's seen in Hogwarts for a long time."

"That reminds me I need to pay him."

Ms. Clarkson laughed as she offered Lily a seat opposite her. Making sure her skirt was straight Lily dropped onto the seat.

"Now Miss Evans I am head of the charms department here in the Ministry. There are a number of different fields within this department but you are being assigned to the experimental charms."

"What is that exactly?"

"People who have made news charms will submit them for inspection. You will be part of a team that will look at them and decide if they are safe for use or not. The team will give advice on how to improve the charm if needed or will give instructions stating that it is never to be used. Those that are passed are then mainstreamed if they are useful."

"It sounds like a lot of work, complex."

"It is. That is why you won't be starting straight away. The most important thing to start with is to learn how the department works. Once you've mastered the basics of the department you will be able to join your team."

"If you don't mind me asking how do I learn the department?"

"Easy. You will spend the first two weeks doing paperwork. If I feel that after the two weeks your work is up to it you will move on. If not you will have another week on paperwork. Do you understand?"

Lily nodded putting a smile on her face.

"Fine if you go speak to Mrs Talbot she will assign you a desk. And the paperwork will be on it. If you have any problems Mrs Talbot will be happy to help you."

Lily felt dismissed and stood up. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to enjoy the next two weeks. She only hoped that once she got passed this the team she would be on would be much nicer.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

He was late again! It had never occurred to him before how bad his time keeping skills were. In Hogwarts he only ever got looks from the Professors or a telling off from McGonagall. Now he realised it would probably have been good to have learnt that skill in the past.

Sirius tapped his foot impatiently on the floor of the lift. It was taking forever to get to his floor; this was not going to look good. It was his first day on the Sports department and he had thirty seconds until it was nine o'clock. With a sigh he tapped his foot quicker as the lift slowly climbed through the ministry building.

There was a ding and the doors started to part. In the six weeks he had spent here two summers ago they had never been this slow opening. As soon as the gap was wide enough he squeezed through and ran. As he approached the main desk he discovered to his horror that the floor was wet. There was no way in hell he was going to be able to stop himself at this speed. His feet stopped moving but he carried on going. He slid passed the desk and as he moved through the room heads turned to stare.

He seemed to be passing through the room at great speed and the thought crossed his mind that he may just slam into the wall before he was able to stop. As he came close to a large oak desk he threw his hands out and clung to the edge of it. His feet kept going while his top half went stationary and he ended up on the floor.

"What an entrance Sirius. I'm glad to see something's haven't changed."

He looked up and smiled at Christopher Marshall. Marshall was head of the sporting department and an ex-Quidditch international. He had been Irelands top Chaser forty-seven years earlier. Sirius admired the mans skills on the field but had discovered that he was the best skilled man in the department now. Marshall didn't look that impressive, he was only five foot three with a bald head full ginger beard and the lightest shade of blue eyes Sirius had ever seen. But the man was good at his job.

"Sorry Sir I was just so excited to be back that I had to run in but the floor was wet."

"And you weren't running because you were late?"

Sirius gave his boss what he hoped was a shocked look.

"I'm not late am I?"

Marshall smiled and handed him a sheet of paper.

"These are the preliminary dates for this seasons Quidditch matches. The October ones should be fine but the World Cup qualifying games start in November. I need you to compare the list to the qualifier matches and make sure there are no clashes."

"Of course Sir."

"That should take you until lunch. Then after that I want you to look at the fixtures and make sure that each game has been assigned a stadium. Then you can make copies of the fixture list and send it to each club and one to the Quidditch Weekly, The Daily Prophet and WWN."

"Aye aye Sir."

Sirius saluted Marshall and turned around to walk away. But after two steps he stopped. He could hear the older man laugh before he felt his hand rest across his back.

"You've forgotten something rather important haven't you Sirius."

"I don't know which desk is mine."

The older man nodded and pointed to an empty one.

"That's your desk. Make yourself at home make sure all the work is done by the end of the day."

"Yes Sir you can count on that."

As he walked away he could hear the soft comments that Marshall was muttering to himself.

"What a character, but its good to have him back."

Sirius couldn't help but smile as he lowered himself into his chair. He may not have had an induction like the rest but he knew exactly how to do this work. He couldn't wait to show the department what he could do.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"So are you going to tell me her name?"

John shrugged his shoulders as he signed his name to the bottom of a discharge summary. Amanda silently watched as he then turned the page and signed his name again on the medication chart this time. Then the parchment floated upwards out of his hands before splitting into two and flying full speed out of the ward. She knew that the medication chart would go to pharmacy so they could put the potions together while the discharge summary went to admin. The patient would be home within two hours.

"Tara. But that's all you get."

Amanda felt her eyebrows pull tight as she considered the name for a moment. Then it was like a light being switched on.

"That's the name of your ex. Please don't tell me your back with her."

The way his lips tightened told her that it was indeed the same girl.

"John she cheated on you with her own cousin! You can do so much better than her what are you thinking."

"That she's changed and won't do it again."

Amanda shook her head as around her healers went about their jobs. She was sat at the healer's station on the Hipworth ward. She hated this ward so much. It was split into three sections one for minor head injuries, one for those that had memory problems and then lastly those in states of unconsciousness. It had been this ward that she had spent three weeks in two years earlier. But it was the ward that John worked on and so it was the best place for her to catch up with him.

She did know that technically he was working and she was suppose to be in potion class. But she hadn't seen John in nearly two weeks. She had thought it was because she had made him tell her that Sirius had been flirting with some tart on boys night out. But now she began to wonder if it was the influence of Tara.

"Once a cheater always a cheater. I can't believe you got back with her."

"But I love her."

"She's stupid."

"Don't say that about my girlfriend. You don't hear me saying that about Sirius."

"No but then Sirius didn't sleep with his own cousin behind my back. In fact most people wouldn't sleep with their cousins unless they are so thick they don't remember they're related."

"She was drunk she didn't know who he was."

"That makes it worse."

"Listen Amanda I don't comment on the fact that I think you're with the most inappropriate guy. I know you and Sirius have been friends forever but that doesn't mean that you're suited as a couple. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't comment on my girlfriend."

Before she could answer back and tell him that Sirius was an appropriate boyfriend and that John was just being mean because she was speaking the truth they were interrupted. She looked up into the piercing eyes of Edwin Summers. The man looked a little deranged as he took her in.

"What are you doing on this ward trainee? You are expected to be in potions."

She gave him the most charming smile that she could bring to her face for a man she thought was a cockroach.

"Healer Waters asked me to leave the class because I had completed the potion we'd been assigned to make."

"That's impossible."

"No its not. It was such a simple potion I'm surprised anybody has difficulties with it."

"You must have done it wrong. Nobody could have done it that quickly."

She was unable to argue the point because John quickly intervened.

"Amanda is a very talented potion maker Healer Summers. She was top in her year group and had the highest praise from Professor Slughorn."

"That might be but she still shouldn't have been able to complete the potion that quickly."

"But she took the course last summer. She was here on the summer programme and as it was the second year in a row you placed her in the potion class and she completed it by the time she returned to school last September."

"Did you?"

She nodded smugly unable to keep the look of pure joy off her face. She loved the fact that she was further ahead than the other recruits it made her feel like she was better than them. She knew that it was wrong to think that but it was a bit of her upbringing that sometimes shone through, though she was always careful to try and hide it.

"Yes Healer Summers. I have a certificate from Healer Waters to prove it. I can bring it in for you tomorrow."

"Yes I would like to see that. Tell me did you complete the charms part as well?"

"No. I wasn't put into that class."

"Excellent Healer Norman is leading that class. Go join them and stop distracting Healer Warren."

Amanda stood up and nodded at the older healer.

"Right away Sir. And John this isn't over."

"Sorry I didn't hear that."

The look plainly told her that he wasn't going to talk about that subject anymore. With Healer Summers watching she turned and walked off towards the new classroom. Charms wouldn't be that bad. She had passed her NEWT in it with the highest grade achievable.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Peter sipped his glass of water as the waiter placed a plate with fish in front of him. He had never felt this nervous before in his life. He risked a quick peek at the girl sat opposite him. She had curled her dusty blonde hair and the ringlets danced around her face. His eyes met with grey and he quickly looked away.

He couldn't believe that he was sat at this restaurant with this girl. He thought that he must be dreaming and wondered how he would feel when he woke up. But he knew that this wasn't a dream. He had bravely asked Alesha if she wanted to get something to eat earlier that day but he had expected her to say no. He had been so surprised when she had said yes.

Biting into the fish he felt sick and it wasn't due to the food. This was a date, that's how it felt to him. It had been a very long time since he'd been on one of these. In fact if he was honest he didn't think he had ever really been on one. He'd had a girlfriend once but wasn't sure how much that counted as he had only been twelve and it wasn't like the girlfriends his friends had had later on.

No the truth was Peter was far from a ladies man. He had no idea how to talk on a date, sure he could talk to girls but the girls he talked to were part of the gang he didn't think they really counted as girls (not that he would ever say that out loud since they were all dating his friends). But this was so weird for him that he felt out of his depth and completely lost.

"So Peter what do your parents do?"

He looked up and gave a shrug.

"My mum drinks alcohol and my dad is on the run from the ministry for murder."

"I'm so sorry I didn't know."

"You didn't know about my dad?"

She shook her head.

"Should I have?"

"He was the Minister of Magic until a year and a half ago."

"Wait your Simon Pettigrew's son! I didn't know he had any children."

"Only me."

"Wow sorry. I honestly didn't know."

"It's alright. It's a bit of a surprise I thought everyone knew. I mean the way people use to talk in Hogwarts –"

"I was home schooled remember."

He gave a little nod. The conversation broke off and he looked at his plate. Then feeling slightly bolder he looked back up at the girl.

"So what about your parents?"

"Mum is a housewife but dad is a shop owner. He sells antiques, his shop isn't anything special but I always use to love going there when I was small. I'd walk around it thinking how old and silly looking some of the things were. I could never understand why anybody would want to buy them."

"Pride."

"Pardon?"

Peter lowered his fork and gave the girl a smile.

"It's about pride. Antiques are from an era gone by. Wizards buy them and then pass them off as family heirlooms. My dad always use to do it to try and compete with his 'friends'. You see my fathers closest associates were the Blacks, Dixons, Malfoys and Snapes all of whom are from very long lines and their homes were filled with heirlooms. So my dad would go and buy old junk and pass them off as our heirlooms. I'm guessing he wasn't the only wizard."

She laughed.

"So my father sells antiques to fraudsters is what you're saying."

He nodded.

"Pretty much."

Again they fell into silence but this time it was a lot more comfortable. Alesha broke it this time.

"So you don't have any siblings?"

"Nope. I'm an only child. What about you?"

"I have two brothers. Both younger than me."

"Are they home schooled too?"

"Nope. They're in Hogwarts."

"Bit unfair isn't it."

She laughed.

"My mum is really old fashioned in her ways. She believes that a woman's place is in the home. She always said that Hogwarts was a great place to learn about magic but not about your role in society. So she made me stay at home and learn how to cook, clean and mend things. She only let me get a job to meet a man."

She laughed again.

"But Brandon and Gabe they got to go to Hogwarts. Sometimes I resent that. I would love to have gone. I feel that I missed out on so much because of that."

Peter didn't know what to say so simply grabbed at the idea of her brothers.

"I don't think I ever met your brothers. What year are they in?"

"Oh they just started their third. Their twins. Wind each other up a treat. But if you saw them you'd never think that they were related. Brandon looks like my mum and me. He's got blonde hair that's all wavy and falls to his shoulders with his grey eyes. But Gabe is like dad. His hair is black and so short that it barely covers his scalp and his eyes are a really dark brown they almost look black in some light."

"What house are they in?"

"Slytherin."

Peter gulped and she seemed to notice that.

"Not a fan of that house then."

"My dad was a Slytherin. He hated the fact that when I went I got sorted into Gryffindor. They're sort of opposing houses. Very competitive."

She laughed and took a sip of her wine.

"So Peter. Tell me did you have loads of girlfriends in Hogwarts."

"No. I only ever had one girlfriend."

He saw a grin appear on her lips and felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Want to make it two?"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Branwen punched the air in excitement and squealed as Hastings flew away from the goals a massive grin on her face. She loved Quidditch with such a passion and it had been such a long time since she had last seen a professional match live, and what a match it was turning into.

The Cannons were taking on the Harpies and the women were wiping the floor with the men. Branwen loved that so much because the Harpies had always been her team. She knew that some people thought it was because it was a team of just women but it was more the fact that they were Welsh. Her Tad had followed the Harpies closely in life and had passed on that passion to her.

"Come on Willoughby! Guard your bloody goals!"

Sirius was almost swearing and Branwen had to stifle a laugh at the look on his face. She loved how worked up he was getting over this. Maybe it was the fact he had bet her five Galleons that the Cannons would win, and they were trailing by fifty points.

The October sun hid behind clouds making it the perfect day for a Quidditch match. Branwen could feel the gentle autumn breeze tousle her hair as she watched Munroe dart between Higgins and Thomas. Sirius swore under his breath and she smiled. It was just the two of them in the Western Stands and she was enjoying the competitive jostling that was going on.

"MUNROE HAS LOST THE BALL TO RICHARDS AND LOOK AT THE SHARP TURN HE'S PERFECTED AND YES HE PASSES GARDENER AND TAKES AIM AND THE BALL SAILS PAST HUGHES AND THE CANNONS TAKE TEN POINTS."

Sirius did a celebratory jump to Joe's words as she shook her head in disgust. She listened to her boyfriend read some statistics on Richards goal scoring trends for the last season and felt a thrill run through her body. She loved the way his voice sounded it was like velvet to her ears. She understood now what people meant when they said the sound of their partner's voice was hypnotising.

"We're going to come back from this you watch Ddraig."

"Whatever Black this game is ours."

He nudged her in a friendly way as their eyes went back to the game above them. She couldn't believe that the rest of their friends had passed up this game. Although it was early on in the season and everything was still to play for there were always teams that were worth watching. This season they claimed it to be the Harpies, Arrows and Bats. Sirius had managed to get free tickets to this game and she had been the only one to agree to come.

Admittedly both Joe and Pete were at the game, but they were working. Joe was in the commentary box as normal while Peter was in the press stand with his camera taking photos for tomorrow's edition of the Prophet. She wondered if he had already taken the lead picture or if he would be lucky enough to capture the winning team catching the Snitch.

"Man I can't believe James is missing this."

She looked sideways at Sirius with a soft smile.

"He couldn't get out of training. It's a lot of hours to be an Auror."

"Yeah I know still he would of loved this, and Frank would have."

She laughed as she pushed him gently.

"Don't forget about Amanda."

"She'd be yelling for the Harpies with you, its probably better she isn't here."

"You don't mean that."

"Yes I WILLOUGHBY LEARN TO BLOCK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD."

Branwen simply laughed as the Harpies got the Quaffle through the goalpost again.

* * *

><p>Hi guys<p>

I can't believe how long its been since I last posted something. I'm so sorry for the delay but I moved house 2 months ago and have only just gotten the internet up and working. So to try and make up for it 3 posts today

Kris


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

James pushed the door open and let Lily walk out before him. She was still carrying a box of popcorn that was about a quarter full still. He followed her into the main entrance and watched as she looked around so at ease in her surroundings.

He could never personally imagine being so at ease in muggle surroundings as she was. It amazed him so much that she could walk so easily in two very different worlds. That's why he had so much respect for her. She had left this world behind to enter the wizarding one and he didn't think that he would ever have been able to do that. But the fact that she was so calm in two different worlds made him think that muggleborns had something over purebloods. They were able to function perfectly well in two worlds.

But he felt so uncomfortable in these surroundings. When it came to paying for the tickets for the movie he felt like a lost little child as she handling some strange looking coins. He felt out of the loop as she ordered them popcorn and drinks and again handled that strange currency that was so different to the wizarding coins.

Then there had been the movie. It was such a strange custom that muggles had to lock themselves in dark rooms and watch moving imagines on a giant screen. He had seen live plays with his parents when he was younger but nothing like this before. The movie had been called 'Midnight Express' and he had thought it to be a strange thing to watch. Lily though had been enthralled in it. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes to see how into the movie she had gotten.

"I'm so glad we did this."

He smiled as Lily turned and looked at him as they entered the street. She looped her arm in his and rested her head gently on his shoulder.

"So what did you think of your first cinema experience."

"Lily I don't understand the appeal. You lock yourselves in dark rooms and watch some strange thing on a big screen. It's not normal."

She laughed as she tilted her head up to face him.

"It's a way to escape that's why people like movies."

He scrunched his face up in confusion and she simply rolled her eyes as she continued.

"Muggles don't have the most adventurous lives. They get up, go to work and come home. They don't have the magic that we experience and they don't get to see things that we see. For them this is a way to become someone else. Just think for two hours all those people were living what they were seeing and that's the most magical thing that ever happens for them."

"I'm glad I'm not a muggle then. I'd much rather get my thrills from a broomstick any day."

"That depends on the thrills you're getting from it."

"LILY!"

James couldn't help laughing though.

"I thought you were a sweet, innocent girl Lily Evans."

"You've known me what eight years and I still give that impression. Wow I should be an actress."

As they strolled through a little park James almost came to a complete stop.

"What on a radio show?"

"You're such a wizard!"

"What?"

Her laugher lightened the air and James wanted to pull her close and kiss her. He managed to move her head from his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist as they stood facing one another.

"The women in that film are known as actresses too."

"Oh. Well you could definitely be in one of those. You're prettier than the women in that film."

He kissed her lips gently and the world felt right. As he went to deepen the kiss whispered words brushed against his mouth.

"You're only saying that because I'm your girlfriend."

He pulled back and looked into her sparkling green eyes.

"Everyone notices how beautiful you are Lily. You're striking. You're the kind of girl that makes women stop in the street and wish they looked like you."

"You're only saying that because you're after something."

He wrapped his arm around her and carried on walking towards the house she called home. A small smile was playing on his lips as he considered once more the evening.

"You know there was one good thing about that film."

"Really."

"The dark room is an excellent place to feel your date up – if she lets you."

Lily swatted him laughing gently as they left the park and walked into the streets of London.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Married life has changed you though mate."

"No it hasn't."

Frank and Joe were sat in the Leaky Cauldron in London having a couple of drinks. It had been ages since the pair of them had done something just the two of them. Over the last year nights out had been spent with Joe's brothers, the Prewett brothers and not forgetting John. But they had always gone for a sneaky drink without them on occasions. However since July that hadn't happened.

Maybe it was the fact that Frank was a married man. Maybe it was because he owned his own house now and didn't have as much money to spend. Maybe it was because his training was intensifying. Or it could be the fact he loved spending so much time with Alice. But then Joe had his own time constraints. He now had more responsibility in work what with having a talk show every Sunday evening commentating on the weekends sports. He had to commentate on Saturdays and Sundays from a Quidditch match and a weekday if one of those games was on. He was preparing a lot more material in the week looking up statistics on players and teams especially in the run up to the World Cup. Oh and who could forget the fact that his girlfriend was now about a lot more.

Truthfully time was changing them. Frank took a swig of his pint and looked at his friend.

"How has marriage changed me?"

"You're just more grown up now mate. You were responsible before and serious but that's intensified the last couple of months."

"That's not because of marriage Joe. It's this bloody war that's done that. Everyday I go into work and have to listen about a plot that has been uncovered or another murder, or maybe just muggle torture. That sort of thing makes you more serious. And with every passing week I'm that much closer to being out on the field. Its scary and it needs to be taken seriously."

"I'm not denying that at all mate but it's not just that sort of thing. I've seen the way you look at prices of things and consider what Alice would think if you bought a new Quidditch set. The way that you look at all of us with this look in your eye as if your remembering when you were at that stage in your relationship and almost counting down until the next person takes the plunge and marries. I guess I'm saying that when I look at you now I see a man instead of the boy I grew up with."

Frank laughed gently and gave a little shrug.

"That's called growing up Joe and maybe if you looked in the mirror you'd see the same thing."

"I'm not a grown up!"

Frank laughed heartily as he lowered his drink.

"You've grown up more than you realise. Look at what you're doing. The young Joe was hot headed and rash I haven't seen you jump into a decision without thinking it through in months. You've become responsible you put so much time into your work and I never thought you'd do that. Hell that was the reason you wanted to work on the radio because you always said you'd just turn up and talk. You're more considerate of what others want and feel and whether you want to admit it or not you are in a serious committed relationship."

"When did that happen?"

Joe downed his drink and looked around.

"Have you noticed how much everything has changed though? Remember when we use to come here and laugh and joke and the place was full of life. What is there these days?"

It was true. Besides them there was an old wizard sat in the corner. Maybe the fact that it was only Wednesday had something to do with it. But Frank understood what Joe meant. There was a new atmosphere starting to build throughout the wizarding world. Things had been static and quiet for a while and people were tense. Frank thought that maybe the worse was yet to come. It was a sobering thought.

"Maybe light hearted subjects should be best. How are you and Branwen?"

"Good. I'm taking her to some place in Wales called Dol-ga-rrog or something on the weekend" _(A/N: It's called Dolgarrog and its close to Snowdonia mountain range)_

"A place you can't pronounce. I'm guessing she chose it."

Joe nodded as he swallowed another mouthful of beer.

"Yeah it's a muggle village but it has wizarding connections. She's fascinated by this legend they have about a dragon called Y Carrog. Apparently he use to steal their sheep so they decided to hunt it down. She said something about them poisoning it and his remains being hidden up some mountain. She wants to go see the remains."

"Well she does like her dragons."

"Has something to do with her name I think."

They both laughed and Frank looked at his friend carefully.

"First weekend away though. That's a big deal."

"I suppose it could be seen that way."

"Is this the first sign that the two of you are ready to settle down?"

Joe laughed nervously.

"Not quite. I think a weekend away is one thing. Getting married and moving in together is something else."

"Just a dirty weekend then."

This time Joe sniggered.

"You've spent too much time around Anton mate. I think its going to be less dirty and more cuddly."

Frank didn't respond and he stood up to get another round in.

* * *

><p>I'm so sorry I only realisd yesterday how long its been since I've updated this story. It didn't feel as long as it has been. I've got a ton of reasons for why that is but I'm just going to post a number of chapters now to make up for it.<p>

Kris xx


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The wind whistled as it pushed its way through the leaves on the towering trees. Pulling her jacket tighter around herself the lone woman stepped off the path and onto the damp grass. The rain had faltered only ten minutes earlier and muddy patches pulled her boots into the depth of the soil. The air held the smell of moisture and she wondered how long the rain would stay away.

As she closed the distance to her destination the wind pulled the ends of her hair around her face. Glad that she had chosen to wear a snug hat she pulled her gloved covered hands to her neck to tighten her scarf. Then with cold feet sinking into the grass she stopped in front of a simple structure and took in the words.

_In Loving Memory of _

_Thomas Scott _

_And his beloved wife_

_Lora Scott_

_And their devoted son_

_Aaron Scott_

_Loved, missed and remembered_

She couldn't remember choosing the words for the inscription on the stone that marked her family's final resting place. So much about that time was a blur to her. It was difficult sometimes to comprehend that it was only two years ago that she had lost them. It felt like a lifetime had passed. So much had happened in the time that had passed. So many people in her life had been lost in such a short period of time.

Small tears brushed her eyes as she laid the flowers in front of the stone. She found it difficult visiting this place. Maybe it was due to the fact that it marked one of the most traumatic things to have happened. Closing her eyes she considered the last time she had made it here. It had been two days before her wedding. She felt bad about not visiting in three nearly four months but this place was still too raw for her.

"I'm sorry it's been so long. I haven't got a good excuse other than being here makes me so sad."

She drew a deep breath and started on what she wanted to say.

"I got married. I know I told you that I was going to but it really happened. It was so beautiful the only thing that could have made it better would have been if you had been there. It was in this old church called Minister Abbey in Minster in Isle of Sheppey. It was really old but so pretty and we filled it with tulips and there was a cream carpet for me to walk down. And my dress mum you would have loved it. It was a one-piece, satin, halter, A-line, corset back gown. The front had a modesty panel with lace adorning the bodice. Then the cut-away skirt revealed lace appliquns that ornamented the panel insert. A satin empire band wrapped to the back of the gown that created a dramatic streamer that cascaded toward the hem of the train. Finally there were more lace appliques that accented the back train and streamers."

Alice drew a deep breath and smiled to herself.

"I've never felt as beautiful as I did in that dress. And it was so comfortable mum I could have worn it forever. All the girls said it suited me and everybody complemented it. And you should have seen the girls as well. I had Branwen, Lily and Amanda as bridesmaids and they had these really unique and fabulous dresses. It was a strapless taffeta bodice dress with centre leaf corsage. The front of the skirt cut midway up to the thighs but the back reached the floor in long layers of tulle skirt. It was a Champaign colour that suited them all. And it was so classy for the ceremony and yet for Amanda in the reception it was perfect because the long skirt was detachable and it became a tiny ra-ra dress. I don't think any other dress would have been as perfect for the three of them."

Alice smiled lightly.

"And daddy Taliesin walked me down the aisle. It felt right because you were such good friends and he was there for me when all the bad things happened. I hope you don't mind. I had considered having one of the boys do it but it just felt perfect having him."

Reaching into her pocket she pulled a photo out and looked at it.

"This is one of the official photos from outside the church of us all together. I thought that you would want to see it so I got an extra one from the photographer."

She laid it gently against the flowers and looked into the sky. The wind was starting to pick up again. The photo wouldn't stay without help. Pulling out her wand she said a simple sticking charm so that it would stay with the flowers and not be blown away.

"You would have loved the reception too. It was in Madam Melania's and the food was amazing. Aaron not even you would have been able to find fault in it. And the speeches Frank made me blush he was so articulate and you could tell just from his tone that he meant everything he was saying. I've never felt love like that before. And then Joe! Well Aaron you can probably guess what his was like. He did this thing about the speech being as long as the groom makes love so after 30 seconds sat down then he and Amanda did this little thing about looking at watches and whispering so he stood up saying he had to continue. I think Frank was redder than I was at that point."

She giggled remembering the way Frank held her hand using his thumb to rub the back of it in a soothing yet loving manner.

"He was really funny and charming though and thank Merlin he didn't go over the top in embarrassing stories, probably because most of them incriminated him. Then for some reason we let Amanda make a speech. She answered Joe back in the way that those two banter. It was entertaining to see. But she raised a toast to you guys saying that wherever you are you're proud and I hope you are."

Alice sniffed closing her eyes. This was why she had put off coming back here the tears. She always cried because this was a place of sadness. Her family had been torn from the world before their allotted time by a monster so despicable most people feared him. Alice was scared but she was determined that the sacrifice of all the people she cared about would not be in vein.

"There is more news and no I'm not pregnant if that's what you are thinking. Not yet anyway. I've gotten a job in the ministry. I know it's in a field that you would be proud of but you'd be scared for me too. I'm an Auror. I'm good at the training as well Moody says I've got great potential. And before you start worrying I'm not there on my own James is training with me and Frank is ahead of us. We'll look out for each other just like we have for years."

Tears brushed against her lids and Alice sniffed slightly.

"I miss you guys so much."

A clasp of thunder vibrated through the sky as rain began to lash through the air. Alice stood there with her tears lost in the rain for a long time.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Knocking at the door Sirius straightened his jumper as he waited for somebody to answer. It felt odd to him to be celebrating a birthday that didn't involve the gang partying in the common room. He knew though that this year was going to be filled with a lot of firsts for them. For example this was the first birthday that he wasn't spending with everyone. Because of the responsibility of jobs and money constraints they had decided that a joint outing would be had for him and Branwen on the weekend where they would all go to the pub and get drunk.

As such he had no idea what was happening tonight. The boys hadn't mentioned anything but neither had Amanda. He had opened a handful of gifts that the boys had left on the table before they had all headed out but he hadn't seen anybody. He had begun to think this birthday was a let down until lunch time when an owl had arrived telling him to come to the girls home at eight.

His thoughts were interrupted as the door opened. A smile spread up his face as he took in the woman standing on the other side. She was dressed in a soft lilac muggle dress that hung to all the right places. He noticed the plunging neckline that most would see as risky but on her it looked sexy. But something was different and it took him a moment to work out what it was.

"You're taller than normal."

She laughed shaking her head as she let him into the house. He hadn't gotten too far in when she leaned up and took his lips with her own. A spark spread through him that always got him excited. He realised now that it was the spark of love between them that always buzzed whenever they were close enough to touch. As she pulled away she smiled at him happily.

"Happy birthday Si."

Wrapping his arms around her he looked once more and repeated his earlier statement.

"You are taller than normal right."

A small tut left Amanda's lips as she pulled away.

"I'm wearing six inch heels. They were the only shoes I have that go with this dress."

She flashed the matching lilac heels at him and he rolled his eyes.

"I still don't know why you insisted on buying them I love the fact you're so much shorter than me. I can rest my chin on your head when we hug."

She swatted him lightly before taking his hand.

"Come through to the living room we're set up in there."

When they entered Sirius felt his mouth drop open. A table had been set up in the middle of the room draped with a white tablecloth and candles. A bottle of wine sat between two place settings. Amanda must have been watching him because he could hear the happiness in her voice as she spoke.

"Do you like it?"

"You did this."

"Of course I did and we have the whole house to ourselves tonight. Lily and Branwen have gone around to Alice's and don't plan to be home before midnight."

She turned and once again pulled his lips to hers. This time the kiss was longer and filled with love and passion. Sirius heard himself groan when she pulled away from him. The smile on Amanda's face spoke depths to him.

"So where have you ordered food from."

"I can cook you know!"

"Since when."

It seemed she was choosing to ignore him as she left the room. But moments later she was back with plates containing boiled potatoes, steaks and vegetables. Carefully he watched her place them down as he poured them a glass of wine each.

"Is it actually safe to eat this?"

The look on Amanda's face showed that she was determined to tolerate him tonight as she cut into the steak and took a bite. He followed suit. The food was delicious and he was surprised by how good it was.

"What other talents have you been hiding?"

"A girl can't give everything away can she?"

A few minutes of comfortable silence passed before Sirius broke it.

"You haven't given me your present yet."

She made a chocking noise before looking at him carefully.

"And a romantic meal cooked by me isn't enough?"

"I thought maybe there was something else."

"I got rid of the girls for the night so we could be alone. We haven't been alone together in months. What with you living with the boys and me with the girls."

"It is nice to have you to myself."

"How nice?"

He watched as she lowered her napkin on top of her plate and stood up. Her movements towards him were thought out. He could see her brain contemplating every move as she reached him. As her lips brushed against his he knew that something was changing. Then without thinking he pushed his chair away and swept her up into his arms. The kiss was filled with a want and need that they had been denying for months.

Somehow they found their way to the sofa and as they lay intertwined their kisses became more rushed, more violent as Sirius found his way down her neck. A soft moan of pleasure slipped from her lips as his hands brushed below the fabric of her dress. Then he pulled back and looked at her carefully.

"If we don't stop now I won't be able to Mand."

"Good."

She pulled his lips back to hers but he managed to break free. Once more he studied her. She was beautiful he had never seen anybody as gorgeous in his life. He loved her more than he could express in words but he had respect. He may hate his past but he had been brought up with morals. The thing that had stuck with him was that you didn't mess around with the woman you wanted to marry. And he did want to marry her. He needed to stop because he and Amanda shouldn't be together until after they had spoken their vows.

"Mand –"

"Shall we take this to the bedroom?"

"We should stop."

Her lips were brushing against his neck kissing him in a way that was making any thought of stopping almost impossible.

"Peter won't turn up if that's what you're worried about."

She chuckled into his neck and he had to fight all his urges to get the next words out.

"I love you Amanda."

She stopped and looked at him carefully. Emotion was written over her face as she replied in a small voice.

"I love you more than anything else in this world Sirius."

"Then we should stop."

Slowly she pulled herself upright and then slowly he saw a mixture of emotions cross her face. He felt his heart break as a small tear escaped her eyes.

"It's my past isn't it? You don't want me like that because of who already has had me."

He reached over and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Of course not! That hadn't even crossed my mind. Amanda I need you to listen to me I don't care about your past that doesn't stop me from wanting you. And I really want you. Can't you tell?"

A small sniff was his only reply.

"But it's not right outside of marriage. You know the saying as well as me about –"

"Those are old traditions Sirius. I love you and you love me. Why should we wait to be married?"

He didn't have a reply for that. Amanda turned towards him and her lips were gentle against his this time. Then she stood up and looked at him.

"You have a choice Sirius. I'm going to my room and if you want to join me you can. If not we'll pretend like this never happened."

As she walked away he sat there looking at his hands. He had turned his back on so many beliefs was he really willing to give up this one too. He loved her and he wanted her. Their relationship was intense and every time he kissed her of late he had the urge to rip her clothes off and here she was offering him that and he was turning it down.

Picking up his wine glass he finished its contents in one gulp. Then making a decision that would change their relationship forever he blew out the candle and made his way towards Amanda's bedroom.

* * *

><p>The beeping of the alarm interrupted Amanda's dreams and she leaned over and hit the off button. She couldn't remember setting it. Turning over she felt an arm tighten around her and memories of the night before flooded back to her. A smile sat on her face as she looked at the naked man in the bed next to her.<p>

She had been so worried last night at one point that she had misjudged so much of their relationship over the last few weeks. Things had been building up between them and last night it had come to a head. She had realised that they had reached the point where they either gave themselves completely to one another or they continue in the pained situation where neither was willing to make a move. So she had.

Her skin tingled as she played back everything that had occurred during the darkness. She had never felt so close to anyone before in her life. She believed that this was what she had been made for, Sirius. Their connection was strong and as she had clung to him in the midst of passion she had known that nobody else would ever be able to make her feel the same way. With him she felt safe, loved and able to give herself completely. She had worried about being self-conscious in front of him. But she had stripped off more than just clothes as they had physically shown their love for one another.

Running her fingers over his chest she wondered if she looked any different because she felt it. She felt as if she was complete for the first time in her life. She hoped that he felt the same way. His sleeping, still body looked magnificent to her. She couldn't imagine anybody else being as perfect as him. She felt that she wasn't worthy of him and yet for some reason he didn't notice.

Maybe the movement of her fingertips against his skin or the feeling of eyes watching him sleep made his lids flutter. Seconds later her brown eyes were connecting with his grey. She waited while he woke from sleep and took in his surroundings. It was a moment before his eyes left hers and took in her body. A blush crept to her face knowing that she was as naked as he was. His arm pulled her close to his body and she felt the warmth of his skin against hers. The impact this had was tangible and her lips found his.

Slowly she pulled back ignoring how much she wanted to pull him closer to her, to be as close as they had been last night.

"Morning."

Her voice was soft and almost muted. He smiled as he kissed her forehead gently.

"Good morning beautiful."

The smile on her lips was massive as she snuggled in close placing her head on his chest.

"How are you feeling Si?"

"Like I'm the luckiest man in the world."

As his lips brushed the top of her hair she tilted her head so that their lips could touch. When they did she knew that they wouldn't be leaving her bed anytime soon. In the back of her mind she knew that she would be late for work but as Sirius rolled her and closed the space between their bodies she suddenly didn't care anymore.

* * *

><p>Okay so this chapter has morphed several times but I'm actually happy with this. Sirius and Amanda are so easy to write and it just felt like the right time to take their relationship to the next level. And I didn't want to make it slutty as I have with other pairings I wanted to show that this was more than that. So I hope you liked this chapter because it's a very important turning point for them and marks a new direction that this story is going in.<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Rooms flashed before Branwen's eyes one after another in quick secession. The twisting sensation in her stomach was strong. She hated travelling this way it always made her feel sick but this was the easiest method to visit her nhad.

Finally she was stood in the office that belonged to her nhad. It was empty but she wasn't surprised as she looked at the clock. It was nearly four fifteen and she knew he would be in his classroom teaching. She had sent a message to him and knew that he was teaching until five that was why she had waited so long to come up to the school.

Her eyes took in her father's office. So much of her time had been spent in this room in her youth. Not much had changed only the photos showed the progress of time. There was the one of Tad and Mamgu in their youth stood together smiling on their wedding day. Then the one of the pair of them with her nhad as a small boy.

She loved that photo it showed so much happiness in the family that she had never met. Her nhad was the image of Tad with the same smile and messy hair. His eyes were shaped like his mother's but the twinkle that filled them was the same as her Tad's. She'd always loved the way they looked so much alike it was a reassurance to her when she was young.

Next to that photo were a handful of Tad and nhad throughout his life as they both grew older. The absence of her mamgu was clear in all of them and in some of the earlier ones the twinkle was gone from their eyes. But by the final one it was back.

Next to that was the one of her nhad and mam and then next to it was the one where the pair of them held a tiny baby. It was the only photo in existence of the three of them together. A pang hit her heart and she thought about the fact that moment had been captured nineteen years ago this very day. It felt like an eternity to her but it was, it was her entire life. She wondered sometimes how long it felt for her father.

Following that were photos of Tad, nhad and her at different points in her life. But then they gave way to photos of just her and nhad. It marked the end of her family, the time when Tad had been ripped from the world during that awful battle. Those photos had the same feel as the early ones after her mamgu had been taken, a lack of something behind the eyes. But just as life continues that sparkle comes back.

The photo taken from her last day of Hogwarts showed that. The promise of what was to come was sparkling in both sets of eyes so much alike as they smiled and waved at the camera. She would have thought that was where the photos would end as that was their family. But as she looked she saw two more that stood there. Another taken from her last day with her and her friends laughing under the old oak tree that they had long ago claimed as theirs. All looking happy.

Then there was a wedding photo. A gift from Frank and Alice. It held the wedding party, her family. Frank and Alice stood in the middle smiling happy. Around them stood the people closest to them in life. Joe as best man stood next to Frank with his arm around Augusta and her husband Victor stood next with Aunt Enid and Uncle Algie. Then the ushers were gathered together joking around as always. James, Remus, Peter and Sirius all looked striking in their matching suits only slightly differing from Frank and Joes. On Alice's side stood her own nhad smiling happily playing the role of father of the bride for Alice. Branwen was next to him her hand in his. Then Amanda and Lily were the other side smiling in their matching dresses. It was a day filled with happiness and even though the presence of those missing was felt it didn't bring down the party atmosphere.

She couldn't help but smile as she looked around once more. She use to worry in the beginning that the war would rip the family apart. Tad had been taken as was one of her biggest fears and the other was that she would be killed and leave her nhad with no-one. But those photos showed that he would never be alone. Her friends had made him part of the family, he was the father figure for them all, considering that Remus was the only one left with a father.

Her eyes shifted to the clock and it was coming up to four thirty. She couldn't sit here any longer with the past playing out in front of her eyes. Stepping out of the office she took to the corridors that she knew so well. She had wandered them for seven years with them as her home. It felt strange today knowing that this wasn't her home anymore, that she wasn't a student.

But it had only been four months since she had been. The corridors and short cuts were so well known to her that it was quick and easy for her to find her way to the classroom that belonged to her father. She opened the door slightly and peeked inside. She recognised the colours on the students and knew this was a combination of Hufflepuff students and Gryffindors. She looked at the ties of her once classmates and felt a pang of wistfulness in her stomach. She wished that she could be sat there with them.

On the board was a sketch of a creature she knew well. It was the dementors of Azkaban. Her father was talking about why they were used and she found his voice calming on her as she slipped into the back of the room. A smile briefly swept to his lips as he noticed her and a few heads turned. A couple of Gryffindors gave her a few waves and she waved back.

A memory of a lesson much like this one came to mind. How Lily had shaken at the thought of the horrors that would be brought on by being close to them while Amanda had shrunk down into her chair eyes shut tight. Alice's lips had been brought tightly together in a grimace. Back then she thought that it was horrible but now she understood how terrible it really was. Her life was littered with tragedy that blighted her nightmares to have them forced on her during waking times would drive her insane.

A bell rang signalling the end of the lesson. She moved to the front of the room and had enveloped her nhad in a hug before the class had emptied. Leaning up she kissed his cheek a smile playing on her lips.

"I've missed you."

"You only saw me two weeks ago caried."

She laughed softly.

"Feels like a lifetime ago. I was so spoilt having you here that I got use to seeing you every day."

He held her tightly.

"I was the spoilt one. I missed so much of your childhood for this place but I got to spend the most important years of your life with you."

"You must be the only person in the world that thinks the teenage years are the best nhad."

He shook his head slowly.

"You learn who you're going to be in those years caried. And I got to see you grow got to help shape you into the woman you are in a way most parents don't. Because it's your peers and professors that help you become what you are. And I was there for that."

He tightened his arms around her for a moment. Then released her packing away his books.

"So how about we get some food from the kitchens and eat in my quarters."

"I hope there's cake."

"Are you telling me that you didn't get any cake Saturday?"

Her mind flashed back to that night. There had been a party in the boys' house. Loads of alcohol had been arranged throughout the house and music blasted as her friends celebrated both hers and Sirius' birthday. Most of the night was a blur and she knew that was down to the partying. She spent most of Sunday in bed with a painful head.

"I think it was chocolate fudge. But I don't really remember. But it was nowhere near as good as the cake from here."

He closed the door to his classroom and headed towards the kitchens. His voice was light as they turned the corner.

"I'm sure we'll be able to get something sweet."

She simply smiled enjoying the fact that she was able to have some time with her father. Tonight they would talk about everything and she couldn't wait for that.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

James sat at one of the desks with the parchment in front of him. It was a different language the words written on the scroll. He glimpsed sideways at Alice and saw that her face was scrunched up as if in pain as she stared at the letters. It was clear they made no sense to her either. He leaned in close making sure no-one was looking.

"Can you make anything out?"

"I think that one is supposed to say 'the' but otherwise it's so foreign."

"Did Frank tell you that we had to learn Goblin?"

She raised an eyebrow as she shook his head.

"No. He told me we have to learn shorthand because notes come in that way. Nothing about another language."

James pulled his seat closer and laid his parchment onto the table next to hers. They were clearly written in the same language but that was the only common link in them. The 'words' were different so the messages would be different.

"How about we try and work it out together."

"Do you think we're allowed to?"

They looked at the other three people in their group. They were the youngest having been taken on straight from Hogwarts. There was a recently retired Quidditch player named Patrick Fitz who had joined the training programme in September, then there was Joey Smith who was twenty and had retaken his newts over the last two years to get the grades he needed and lastly Olive Collins who was a year older than them but had waited to start the course due to the fact that she had left Hogwarts three months pregnant.

The three of them were working on the text alone. None of them were speaking as they hunched over the words. James looked back at Alice and shrugged.

"Moody didn't say we couldn't. All he said was that he wanted them translated by five. And I've spent an hour looking over it and can't seem to make sense of it. The dictionary isn't helping much because some of the symbols look so similar. But maybe together we could get it."

Alice looked around once and then smiled.

"We did always do homework in groups bouncing ideas off each other. And since Moody didn't say that we couldn't –"

An alarm buzzed through the floor breaking Alice's words off. James looked up his head spinning round as the Aurors quickly stopped everything and moved to the centre of the room talking amongst themselves.

James moved to where Frank was stood with a woman named Candace Moyles. She gave him a look of questioning but didn't comment. James knew that she was Frank's mentor. Second year training was so different to the level that James was currently at. Second years went out in the field. Nothing major but to the aftermath of scenes, to trials and to speak to witnesses. James was jealous that Frank got to do so much but he knew that in a year he'd be at that stage too.

The buzzing stopped as quickly as it started and they were all looking at Moody as he stood before them. James had seen that look before; it was the look of a man with bad news to break. It seemed others knew the look to because the little conversation stopped.

"Glastonbury. Twenty plus Death Eaters."

James was amazed by how quickly things were assembled after that moment. He was ushered back towards the desk with the other first years. Then the lifts started to arrive and they were jammed with Aurors. Half the office disappeared within minutes off the floor towards the atrium and the apparition points.

This was what they were trained for. They knew how to jump into action so quickly. Assignments had been given first thing and the first wave of defence and the second had gone. Only ten Aurors remained. They were there in case another attack call came in. They would go to the second assault calling in those that were off duty. But hopefully that wouldn't happen.

James felt useless as he sat back at his desk with Alice. He knew he could fight he had proven it time and time again. He was a member of the Order. If he was off duty he'd be there fighting now but as he was a first year trainee he couldn't leave the office yet. Even though it killed him not to be involved. It was at that moment he realised something though. Frank had gone.

Silently he reached across and took Alice's hand giving her a reassuring squeeze. Her eyes were dry and a look of determination was on her face as she looked at the roll in front of her. But he knew she felt as useless as he did. But she also had the worry of a loved one out there knowing that she couldn't help. He wondered how he would feel if Lily was there. A lump stuck in his throat as he picked up the dictionary hoping that the attack would be quelled quickly.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Amanda stood silently at the end of the bed watching as Heather pasted the patients foot with a sticky looking substance. The dark green colour drained becoming lighter and lighter as the potion soaked into the skin. The moans of the woman became less and Heather looked up at Amanda.

"Pain is whatever the patient states it to be. Remember that Healer Dixon."

Amanda smiled and gave a slight nod.

"So the cream takes away the pain Healer Downs?"

"Yes it numbs the area taking away the discomfort, and you can see that it works as the colour drains from the cream as the potion is absorbed by the skin."

Amanda watched as the pale green kept lightening until it was white. She felt a joyous sense of relief because this was her work. She had made the cream herself by scratch over the last three days and was delighted to see that it worked. Not that she had doubted that it would her potion making skills was her strongest advantage here at the hospital.

Heather was talking quietly to the patient waving her wand above the leg. A thin streak of red twisted up from the ankle twilling around in the space between the wand tip and the leg.

"What does that indicate Healer Dixon?"

Amanda looked from Heather to the patient and made a decision. She took a step towards the little boy and gave him a little smile.

"The red strip twisting like that indicates that Barney has broken his ankle when he fell off the counter in the kitchen trying to get a biscuit."

"I've broken a bone?"

The five year old sounded excited as he asked the question while his mother groaned. Heather took his hand and gave a little nod.

"Yes but don't worry we'll fix it straight away."

"Danny will be jealous."

The boy grinned at his mother as Heather brought a liquid and put it in a small glass.

"Healer Dixon would you explain to Barney what this is."

"It's a quick fix for your ankle. You drink that and it'll make the bone fuse back together."

"What does that mean?"

Amanda made a strange face thinking about how to explain it. Then she had an idea.

"Do you watch your mother make biscuits?"

"Yes."

"You know when it is wet you can stick two separate pieces together. This medicine makes the end of the two pieces of bone sticky and pushes it together and keeps it there so that it will knot together and be better."

"Does it taste good?"

Amanda shook her head.

"No. It's bitter but if you drink it really quickly it won't taste too bad and you'll be able to have some juice after it to take the taste away."

She watched as the boy swallowed the drink pulled a face then took a big swig of juice. Amanda then wrapped his foot in a bandage as Heather went through the aftercare with his mother. She gave Barney a friendly wave as he left the hospital to go home.

"You have a good technique with children Dixon, you should consider specialising –"

A low buzz sounded and Heather stopped mid-sentence and turned towards the healer station. Amanda followed silently behind her wondering what was happening. She had never heard this sound before. She was eager to find out what it was. This week was already a week of first for her. She had been assigned to work with Heather this week on the admissions ward. It was the place where all patients came first. If they were seriously ill they would be sent straight to a ward but minor ailments or life threatening ones were treated there. She was enjoying this new method of learning whilst doing the job.

The six healers on the ward were gathered around the station in silence and Amanda shared a look with Georgina the other student as a voice spoke through the communication system.

"Aurors have just informed us that a large attack is taking place in Glastonbury. All healers are to prepare for mass casualty intake."

The six qualified healers quickly went to the curtained bays and moved the patients back into a waiting area amongst complaints. Amanda's brain went to the location. It was a smart move on the Death Eaters part; it held a large underground wizarding community. She also knew that it was a favoured area for Quidditch players and that several players and their young families lived there. This would cause panic on a large scale.

"Dixon go to the supplies and get more bandages as quick as you can."

Amanda moved quickly knowing that at any second the casualties would start arriving and they would need to be ready.

* * *

><p>The noise was affecting Amanda in a strange way. She kept having flash backs to the attack in Hogsmeade. It was the moaning, it reminded her of the students and villagers who were hurt. The smells were similar with the burning flesh and iron scent of blood. Amanda pushed her hair back from her eyes as she wrapped a bandage around what was once a woman's arm.<p>

She was suppose to be shadowing Heather but she had lost her about two hours earlier when it became chaos. But it didn't bother Amanda she wasn't stupid she stepped away from patients that she knew she would be unable to help sticking to basic healing tactics. She held patients hands comforting them as qualified healers tried to help them. She cleaned out wounds bandaging them to try and keep infections out. She had even held the hand of an elderly man as he drew his last breath.

Emotions were flooding through her as she darted from one patient to another wishing that she was able to do more. She felt almost like she was hindering some of the work but she knew that whatever she was able to do was helping as it freed up another person.

There were so many people about now though that she had to push her way through. A number of healers had come down from other wards to try and help out. The patients that had been in the waiting area when the call had come in had been taken up to another ward before casualties had arrived to receive treatment. A receptionist was now directing patients to wards for treatment and away from them allowing the injured from the attack to join them.

"Dixon."

Amanda followed Heathers voice into a curtained area and felt the colour drain from her face.

"Bandage his head for me while I try to stop the bleeding."

Red patches had soaked up the shirt of the man lying in front of her. But she didn't reach for the bandages or help Heather. She reached for his hand shock running through her that his fingers felt cold.

Her stomach was knotted as she tried to keep her composure. She was a professional but this was not something she had expected, she hadn't expected to see him.

"Frank."

He didn't respond. She squeezed his hand once and tried again.

"Frank open your eyes."

Panic flooded her body as Heather spoke to her.

"Bandages Dixon."

She looked at her mentor and swallowed a lump.

"Is he going to die?"

Her voice was small and she sounded wounded. She didn't think she could cope with losing another friend. The Healer looked at her for a moment before continuing her work.

"Do you know this man?"

"He's my friend."

Heather kept her eyes down as she continued to work.

"I don't know."

That snapped Amanda out of it. She released Frank's hand and started to bandage his head. Her stomach still felt so knotted. She hoped that he was the only one of her friends injured and that she would be able to help Heather keep him alive. She didn't think she'd be able to live with herself if they lost him.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Alice felt sick as she stepped into the hospital. James' hand was the only thing keeping her steady as he gently directed her around people and into a queue of the injured. She couldn't take anything in; her mind was a whirl of thoughts.

This morning she had cooked bacon while Frank fried eggs and buttered bread and they'd sat at the table together joking around. Things had felt so normal when he had picked up the Prophet and pointed to a photo of Anton on the back part. Alice had said she wondered how many women had chatted him up last night after his Quidditch match and Frank had laughed.

They'd shared a kiss as Frank had washed their plates and she'd dried them. He'd told her that he was planning a surprise for her after they finished work tonight. She had thought maybe a romantic dinner before an early night. She wondered if maybe they would discuss the future. So far they'd stayed clear of one topic but she had decided to broach it tonight, children.

They'd only been married four months still in the honeymoon stage. But she wanted to ask him about children. She knew he was being a gentleman and thinking about her career. She had three years and he wouldn't broach the subject until she was qualified. But she was considering taking time off. She could do what Olive had done and defer a year. She wanted a family. She wanted to talk about maybe in the New Year trying for one.

But maybe all that was lost now. She had gone into work with him and watched as he disappeared with the Aurors into an attack. She didn't think he would be injured. He'd been involved in attacks before. So she had stayed in the office feeling awful but working away on the scroll with James. They had translated her one before the news reached them and were starting on his.

A message had come in from someone, she didn't know who. It listed those Aurors injured and sent to the hospital. The attack was over and the dead were being taken away and the captured locked up. There were still only ten Aurors and the first years there. They divided up the list between four of them and put on capes and left. Two to tell the family of those dead and two the injured.

That was when she noticed Suzanne Grey heading towards them. Alice's stomach lurched and she started to shake. James took her hand as Grey spoke the words she didn't want to hear. Frank's name was on the list. A cry left her lips and James was the one to be rational and ask which list. The injured. It was a relief but only just. That list never said how badly somebody was hurt.

Alice couldn't say what happened next. She assumed James had asked for permission to bring her here because he was with her. But she didn't remember leaving the department or arriving here. Her body was still shaking as they moved closer to the front of the line. Her head rested on James' shoulder as tears spilled out of her eyes.

How many more people was she going to lose? She hated the deaths that had mounted up of people she cared about. Somehow knowing Frank's name could be added to that list was the worse. She could just make out the soft words of comfort and support that James was muttering but they were lost on her ears. Her mind kept saying that she needed to be strong to show Frank that she was there for him.

Then they were out of the line and walking into the department. It was chaos there were people everywhere. Alice could see Aurors mixed amongst the crowd some injured some recording statements. But James took her in another direction. He carefully side stepped a Healer who was running with bandages and a man in a wheelchair being taken to a lift.

Then a curtain was before them and it opened. Her eyes went to the man on the trolley. His eyes were shut and his lips cracked. The soft pink skin that she had caressed only hours before was a grey colour that lacked warmth and health. A white bandage was wrapped across his forehead making his skin look a dirty pale. His arms were above a sheet bruised and covered in cuts. Dirt sprawled up one side sitting around his neck. Alice chocked on tears and if James hadn't have been holding her she would have been on the floor.

"He's dead."

The words were tiny as they escaped her mouth. She felt bile reach her throat and fought not to let it escape. But then her ears picked up a sound that drew her eyes away from her husband.

"No he isn't."

Amanda was beside him with a bowl of water and a sponge. Alice watched silently as she gently stroked the sponge along his neck leaving a trail of pale skin where the dirt had lingered.

"He's seriously ill though. A building collapsed and he was caught in the rubble. He has a cut on his head and a concussion but that's minor. It's the internal damage that had the healers worried."

Alice was watching Amanda's lips as she raised Frank's arm and let the water run along the skin. Her touch looked light and easy. Alice watched her friend silently as she continued with her job. She looked completely in control and relaxed as she carried on.

"A slab of brick caught Frank as it fell. It ruptured his spleen. There was a lot of bleeding and it took a long time to stop that. But Healer Downs got it under control. She removed his spleen and he's had a blood transplant. We're waiting to transfer him upstairs."

Alice tried to take it in.

"No spleen?"

Amanda turned from Frank and gave her a little nod.

"That's not as bad as it sounds Alice. The spleen is part of the fluid circulation. It filters the blood. But you can live without it. The liver and lymph nodes will substitute the work but he will be more prone to infections now than he was before. But Frank is young and healthy so you don't have to worry too much."

Amanda tucked Frank's arms under the blanket and moved towards them. She pulled Alice into a tight hug.

"Alice he's going to be alright. When he wakes up he'll be confused and sore and a little tired and they'll keep him here a while but he's going to be fine."

"You promise."

She sat Alice down on a chair and put her hand on top of Frank's.

"Healer Down's says that she stopped the bleeding and he's over the worse of it. I promise you Frank will pull through this."

Alice simply sat there looking at her husband. It was too much to hope for looking at him now. But she hoped Amanda was right. Because Alice couldn't live in a world where Frank no longer existed.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Tears spilled down her face as she held tightly to the mug trying not to tip its contents. Her body felt drained and a chill ran through her. Raising the mug to her lips she gulped some of the hot chocolate ignoring the burn down the back of her throat. The blanket that was wrapped around her body wasn't bringing much warmth.

Every time she closed her eyes she could see the day flash before her. The faces of those that had died, the families she tried to comfort. All the effort that seemed to have killed a small piece within herself. For the first time she questioned if she was on the right path. The idea of having to spend the rest of her life doing this suddenly scared her.

Sniffing she put the mug down and pulled the blanket up further to her chin as she closed her eyes. She wanted the day over with. She felt useless she was of no help to anyone. Not in the state she was in.

Amanda wiped a tear away thinking about how James had sent her home when her shift was finished while he sat silently with Alice keeping a watchful eye over Frank. She had argued but he claimed she was exhausted that she'd done more today to help than he had and he'd watch over their friends.

When she had gotten home she'd found Lily and Branwen cooking as if nothing had happened. She knew that they would be aware of the attack but neither one would have been brought in with their line of work. One look at her and they knew something was wrong. She had stood tall though and carefully explained that Frank had been injured. She had said little of his condition as she was bound by the rules of the oath of healers. They were not related to the man so no information could be given.

Branwen had said about finding Joe while Lily had stayed for a while before asking if Amanda would be okay if she went to the hospital. Amanda didn't stop her and was left alone. It was then that she broke down. She had been forced to stay strong all day and she couldn't keep the pretence up anymore.

She had cried for almost an hour before she curled up on the sofa with her hot chocolate. The radio played quietly in the background. Some nonsense muggle station with music that she didn't know and didn't really like. But it was nice to have something that wouldn't remind her of the day. A news bulletin about an IRA attack in Glastonbury flashed on and she realised that was the cover being used for the attack.

Tears threatened again and she knew that she should go to bed but she couldn't bring herself to move. A click sounded in the hallway that sent alarms ringing in her head yet she still didn't move. The sound of footfalls echoed through the house and she waited. It could be anybody, an attack on her or maybe a friendly face. Right now she wanted neither.

"Mand?"

At the sound of his voice her body began to shake as the sobs she'd managed to stop began again. The sound of his feet became louder as he moved towards her then she was wrapped in his arms sobbing so much that she was sure whatever was left of her makeup had run down her face giving her a hideous look.

She was unsure how long her tears fell but finally they came to an end. She felt soothed curled up on his lap his hand rubbing her back gently. She realised how tightly she was clinging to him and let her grip go a little and pulled her head back from his chest. Looking up slowly she met his eyes and saw the worry that lined his eyes. Reaching up she stroked his cheek and shook her head.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't ever have to apologise for crying in front of me."

She gave a tiny smile. He hugged her back to his chest kissing the top of her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She considered that for a moment. She knew that she wasn't supposed to talk hospital business with non-healers. But she needed to confide in someone who was outside of it. She needed to be able to tell Sirius anything and everything about her life.

"I was so scared today."

She sniffed as she adjusted herself so that she was more comfortable wrapped up on his lap.

"It was horrible Si. They came in and the state. There were burns, cuts, horrendous after effects to spells. And I was transported back to Hogsmeade. It was the smell and the feeling of being so useless. I couldn't help half those people I'm not trained to that level. So I cleaned cuts, bandaged wounds and held the hands of people who were dying. I sat and comforted the families of those lost and I've never felt so helpless."

"Those are all important things Mand and you'll be more experienced next time it happens because you learn new things every day."

He stroked her hair gently and she felt safe there.

"I lost it at one point Si. I was called over by my mentor and found her stood over Frank and I froze. I didn't know what it was I was doing I just looked at him and thought I can't lose another friend."

"I heard he was in a bad condition."

"He was. I thought he was going to die at one stage. Don't tell Alice."

Her eyes met his and he kissed her forehead.

"This conversation is just for us sweetheart."

She chuckled at that.

"Since when am I sweetheart?"

"Would you prefer sex kitten?"

"No."

But she was laughing and she could see the relief in his eyes.

"Thank you for just listening."

"You've had a bad day. It's what I'm here for."

"How was your day?"

"Easy compared to others. I didn't even know there was an attack until I got home. Remus told me when I got in and I came straight here to see you. I spent the day looking at the programmes for the Bats next game. Do you know they're being sponsored by the Leaky Cauldron for the next one?"

"Really? I thought the Cannons were being sponsored by them."

"Looks like the new owner is a Bats fan."

The Cauldron had been sponsoring the Cannons for the last decade but then it had just been taken over by William Gates and he was an ex-bats player and coach. He'd been forced to step aside after a bad run at the end of the last season.

"Do you want something to eat Si?"

He smiled at her and a squeak left her lips as he stood up carrying her to the kitchen. He gently placed her on the counter as he opened the fridge and pulled out some eggs, ham and mushrooms.

"Where's the cheese?"

"Lift the lid on the container at the back on the bottom shelf. Bran and I hide it in there otherwise Lily will eat it all."

He chuckled as she watched him throw everything into a pan and stir the content.

"What are you making?"

"A surprise."

He leaned in and took her lips with his own. It was so strange how quickly he'd managed to turn her mood around. She watched in silence as he pulled plates out and two omelettes were set on them. She bit into it and felt her stomach settle a little.

A clock chimed and she turned to look at it. Nine o'clock. It was still early but she felt shattered. He must have noticed because he moved towards her and hugged her kissing her once on the tip of her nose.

"You should get some sleep. You look exhausted."

Quickly she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Stay with me."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she gave him a little shove.

"I didn't mean like that. I just meant I don't want to be on my own."

He picked her up again and she kissed him.

"You're not doing a good job of convincing me that isn't why you want me to stay."

She giggled as she forced him to put her down. Then she led him into the bedroom and pulled him into the bed. Maybe her intents had been innocent to begin with but as they lay there she knew that she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight but she wouldn't complain about the reasons.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Remus felt that he had been spoilt during his time in Hogwarts. For seven years he had been use to a comfortable and safe location for his monthly changes from human to werewolf. But when he graduated that luxury vanished. He often wondered if maybe he would be able to go back to the shack now but felt more questions would be raised as to why a grown man turned up at Hogwarts once a month on a full moon. Enough people had learnt his secret through tracking his movements at that time of the month.

So instead he returned to the location that had served him well for years before that, the Caledonian Forest in Scotland. It had seemed a perfect location to his parents as there were stories of wild animals walking these woods. He had come across many of the rarest of Britain's wildlife including, wildcats, brown bears, Eurasian Lynx and even grey wolves. In his younger days he had tried to convince himself that coming here was an adventure just for him, not any more.

The location of Hogwarts had not been the only thing that had spoilt him. It was the company he had grown accustom to on the full moon. He knew that it was risky when his friends had arrived and he had hated himself for what they had illegally done to themselves. He worried about the problems that could happen if they got a small part of the spell wrong, or the fact that they were not regulated and how much trouble that could bring if they were ever discovered. But their presence had soothed him. For so long he had felt lost during those hours of transformation, yet with them there he managed to keep hold of a small part of himself.

Since they had graduated though he had been slipping further and further back into the grasps of the animal within. He couldn't blame anybody for that it had long become part of his nature. It was a part that he feared and with the pulling of the moon on his soul he panicked about the price somebody would have to pay if they came into contact with him. The thought of taking somebody's life sickened him all the way through, yet it was a happier thought than leaving somebody like him.

Sitting on a log under the leaves of the giant trees he couldn't help but wonder how different his life could have been if he hadn't been cursed with a bite. He would be working in a job that challenged him he knew that. Part of him wondered if he would have had the skills to teach. He imagined starting off as a tutor for a wizarding family at this time that was afraid to send their children off to Hogwarts. Then in the future when it came time searching for a position amongst one of the schools in Europe hoping all the while to get a post in Hogwarts. He knew what he would like to teach, Defense Against the Dark Arts, he had a respect for those that had taught him that as he felt there was nothing more important than learning to protect yourself.

But that was just a dream. He would never work a normal job Greyback had seen to that when he was only a small boy. Revenge for something his father had once said. He was feeling more alone tonight than he had in a long time. He hated to dwell on feelings like that after the downward spiral his life had taken when he had lost his Ginny. But he did feel alone on the full moon. It was the fact that his friends were no longer a part of this night. They were busy facing the challenges of their lives but he missed them in these moments before the change.

As the moon's affect pulled harder he began to get the sensation of loss of control. He knew that in moments his mind would no longer be his own as the will of the wolf took over. As pain started to pull on him a flash of fur to his right caught his attention. A dark shaggy creature lay on the mud floor staring at him. Then from the other side antlers penetrated his field of vision. As the pain pulsated through his body a smile played with his lips. A small rodent squeaked from around his feet and then all thought left his mind as Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs had their first adventure together in months.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Frank Stretched himself out on the sofa with his eyes closed just listening to the sounds of his home. He would never speak aloud the worries he had two weeks earlier that he would never see this place again. He had never been so frightened in his entire life. It was hard to explain the feelings to himself let alone anyone else. His memories weren't very fresh of the actual events that had led him to the hospital and Healer Grace had informed him that it wasn't an uncommon side affect. Apparently head injuries normally left a person a little muddled.

He was thankful for that though. Part of him wondered if he didn't remember because he wanted to forget. There were blurs of imagines that haunted him when he slept, but his awake hours were relaxed. Although the imagines weren't there in the days emotions lingered. He knew that when he was out there he had feared for himself. He had worried that he would never return to Alice and she'd be left a widow in this house alone. A shiver ran through his spine at the mere thought of that.

The two weeks in the hospital had done little to ease that feeling. There had been times when even after being told that he was improving he had worried about his death. He knew that at that point it was stupid but he couldn't get it off his mind. His thoughts were disrupted when he heard Alice mutter something that sounded like 'shit' in the kitchen. A smile brushed his lips and he called out to his wife.

"Is everything OK? Do you need a hand?"

Her blonde head popped through the door and he saw her sucking on her finger.

"No its fine. Just cut myself peeling the potatoes."

He patted the space in front of his body and Alice moved through the room and sat on the edge of the sofa. Frank quickly wrapped his arms around her and dragged her onto her side moulding her body against his. Gently he kissed her jawline. This is what he had missed. To his surprise he heard a whimper that became a sob.

"Alice?"

She waved her hand in answer and he saw her try to compose herself. Gently he managed to turn her body so that they were face to face. Tears brushed against her cheeks and he brushed them away making a soothing sound in the process.

"What's wrong sweetie?"

"Nothing."

Her voice wobbled with the sound of unshod tears. Frank pulled her close stroking her hair as he did so.

"Please tell me."

"I was so frightened I was going to lose you."

"Shh. I'm right here."

She sniffed as she buried her head into his shoulder. For minutes she didn't move. Then her voice sounded so softly from his chest.

"You almost died Frank. What would I do without you?"

A lump sat in his throat. That had been his fear but he didn't want her to worry about such things.

"Don't think about that. I'm here and that's all that matters."

"All that matters! Do you actually know how close you came to dying. One of the healers explained everything to me. They thought you were dead at one point. So don't tell me not to think about it."

"Alice -"

"I hate it every time you go out there and fight. I hate that its your job. When you leave the office I'm always petrified that it's for the last time and that I'll never see you again. That almost happened."

Frank pushed Alice slightly away and looked into her eyes intensely.

"I know. And that knowledge kills me. It makes me stop for a moment every time I leave. But you realise that I feel the exact same way about you. You're the same as me Alice. I know that in a few months they'll be taking you out of the office and then what? I worry about you all the time. I worry that one day you'll go on a job and never come back. I worry that I'll go out and won't come back. I worry that one day I'll leave you a widow with three children to raise all by yourself -"

"Wait? What?"

Frank smiled as he brushed a strand of hair behind his wife's ear.

"I worry a lot Alice. I worry about all the little things. We're living through a war and that makes things difficult. I've almost lost you before and that was terrifying. I know what we represent and we've made our alliance clear. Maybe there'll come a day when one of us doesn't come back but we can't live thinking and worrying about that. If we do life will end up passing us by. And I want to live every minute; with you."

He took her lips gently with his own. His hands wrapped tightly around her body drawing her close. Her body was reacting to his and he felt electricity flow through his veins. Then her lips were off his, there was a gap between their bodies and she was studying him.

"What?"

"I know I'm being irrational. I know the risks that we face and that we've both signed up for them. But its too soon. I don't want to lose you yet. I feel like I've only just found you, which I know is stupid because we've been together forever. But still."

"Sweetie eternity with you wouldn't be enough."

She laughed and swatted him.

"Now I know you didn't just say that."

"What?"

He raised an eyebrow and her laughter filled the room. The tension shifted and he felt his lips turn into a smile. Through her laughter he heard her words.

"I can't believe you just used Joe's most famous chat up line."

"It felt like the right moment."

She swatted him as her giggles died down and she rested her head against his chest. He kissed her forehead gently as she played with the material of his jumper.

"Three kids then?"

Her voice was small and he grinned into her hair.

"Yep. I figure we have our first maybe in the next year or two then the others will follow pretty close behind. Don't want too big an age gap."

"Three seem like a lot."

"Nah just think if we can handle our friends three kids will be nothing."

She tilted her head and their eyes connected. He could see a sparkle in them that sent a tingle of excitement through his body.

"Why wait a year or two? We could always start trying when you're healed."

A smile danced on his lips as he started to lean in to kiss her again.

"I'm already healed."

Before his lips could connect she pulled back pushing his body into the back of the sofa to create space.

"The healers said none of that for at least another two weeks. You need to rest."

A wicked smile spread to his face as he reached for her pulling her closer.

"You know me, I tend to break the rules every now and then when I think they need to be."

His lips brushed against hers softly to start with then the build up of passion exploded. As they lost themselves in each other all worries and concerns about their future evaporated and they found themselves consumed in the moment.


End file.
